Sub-national notifications with contextual data
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Number of serious incident notifications for each reporting year, by local authority and region.
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Data set details
- Theme
- Children's social care
- Publication
- Serious incident notifications
- Release
- Reporting year 2026
- Release type
- Number of rows
- 1,311
- Geographic levels
- Local authority, National, Regional
- Indicators
- Number of serious incident notifications
- Number of children in need at 31 March
- IDACI average score
- Time period
- 2019 to 2026
Data set preview
| time_period | time_identifier | geographic_level | country_code | country_name | region_code | region_name | old_la_code | new_la_code | la_name | number_notifications | cin_31march | idaci_avgscore | ons_midyear_population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Reporting year | National | E92000001 | England | 357 | 402400 | x | 12183016 | |||||
| 2026 | Reporting year | Regional | E92000001 | England | E12000001 | North East | 30 | 24470 | x | 542710 | |||
| 2026 | Reporting year | Regional | E92000001 | England | E12000002 | North West | 60 | 62450 | x | 1627558 | |||
| 2026 | Reporting year | Regional | E92000001 | England | E12000003 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 40 | 40310 | x | 1181103 | |||
| 2026 | Reporting year | Regional | E92000001 | England | E12000004 | East Midlands | 30 | 29160 | x | 1032130 |
Variables in this data set
| Variable name | Variable description |
|---|---|
| cin_31march | Number of children in need at 31 March |
| idaci_avgscore | IDACI average score |
| number_notifications | Number of serious incident notifications |
| ons_midyear_population | ONS mid-year population estimates |
Footnotes
- The source of the data on serious incident notifications is the Child Safeguarding Incident Notification System (opens in new tab). The statistics show the number of incidents notified in the period, rather than the number of incidents that occurred in the period, and are based on one notification per incident, which can relate to more than one child in some instances. The local authority should notify the Child Safeguarding Practice review panel of serious incidents where abuse or neglect is known or suspected within five working days of becoming aware that the incident has occurred. However, in some cases, there can be delays in notifications being submitted. When interpreting data on serious incident notifications, local authority contextual information is an important consideration. Local authorities with larger populations tend to be more likely to report more serious incident notifications than those with smaller populations. Those with higher levels of deprivation also tend to be more likely to report higher rates of serious incident notifications than those with lower levels of deprivation. In addition, whilst data quality has improved in recent years, DfE is aware that, in some instances, not all incidents that meet the definition for a serious incident are notified. For these reasons, neither high nor low numbers of serious incident notifications alone should be interpreted as a performance measure of the local authority or its workforce.
- The children in need at 31 March figures, based on the Children in Need statistics release, provide further contextual information to the data on serious incident notifications. Children in need are those assessed as needing help and protection from children's social services as a result of risks to their development or health. As 2026 data were not available at the time of publication, the serious incident notification figures for 2026 show the latest (at the time) 2025 figures alongside.
- The Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) average score figures (opens in new tab), based on the English indices of deprivation (opens in new tab), provide further contextual information to the data on serious incident notifications. A higher score indicates that the local authority has a greater proportion of children aged 0 to 15 living in income deprived families. 2019 IDACI averages were used for years up to 2025, and 2025 IDACI averages were used for 2026.
- Mid-year ONS population estimates (opens in new tab), based on children aged 0 to 17 years in England, provide further contextual information to the data on serious incident notifications. As 2025 estimates were not available at the time of publication, the serious incident notification figures for 2026 show the latest (at the time) 2024 estimates alongside.
- On 1 April 2021, the unitary authorities North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire were formed, replacing Northamptonshire County Council. However, data is provided under the former Northamptonshire basis in 2022 and 2023, in addition to being provided for earlier years, but is provided under the new North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire basis from 2024.
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Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Sub-national notifications with contextual data statistics and data:
Children’s Services Statistics Team
Email: sin.stats@education.gov.ukContact name: Andy Brook