Reporting year 2020

Children looked after in England including adoptions

Children looked after, care leavers and children adopted in England. Annual statistics including characteristics, placement information and health outcomes.

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  • National - Children who started to be looked after during the years ending 31 March

    National

    Children who started to be looked after during the year, by gender, age on starting, category of need, ethnicity, legal status, previous permanence and placement type. Data formerly in tables C1 and C2. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. No new applications for freeing orders may be made on or after 30 December 2005, they were replaced by placement orders. 3. 'Youth Justice legal statuses' refers to children: remanded to LA accommodation or youth detention accommodation under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; placed in LA accommodation under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; or, sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order with residence or intensive fostering requirement under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (as amended). 4. Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the year has been counted. 5. Foster placements 'not Fostering for Adoption or concurrent planning' include children in long term foster placements. 6. In 2020 there were 13 secure units in England, therefore most placements will inevitably be outside the council boundary.

    Number of rows
    289
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percent
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Duration of placements by type ceasing during the year

    National

    Duration of placement ceasing during the year, by placement type. Data formerly in table B3. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages and averages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. A placement may cease but the child will continue to be looked after if a new placement begins immediately. This table gives counts of placements, not children. If a child has more than one placement in the year then each will be included.

    Number of rows
    298
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percent
    Filters
    • Duration of placements
    • Placement type
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Children who started to be looked after during the year

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data for children who started to be looked after during the year by: - age group -  category of need -  gender -  legal status -  numbers taken into care Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. No new applications for freeing orders may be made on or after 30 December 2005, they were replaced by placement orders. 3. Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the year has been counted. 4. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    14,941
    Indicators
    • Number of children
    • Percentage of children
    Filters
    • Characteristics by detail
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Children looked after at 31 March with three or more placements during the year, or aged under 16 at 31 March who had been looked after continuously for at least 2.5 years and who were living in the same placement for at least 2 years

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data on children looked after at 31 March with three of more placements during the year, or aged under 16 at 31 March who had been looked after continuously for at least 2.5 years and who were living in the same placement for at least 2 years. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. 2. Figures are based on children aged under 16 that were looked after on 31 March for a continuous period of at least 2.5 years; and include only children living in the same placement for at least two years or if they have been placed for adoption, their adoptive placement and their previous placement combined last for at least two years. Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements. Note the methodology has changed compared to figures published in previous years – so in the 2020 publication the figures now a. exclude children who started a period of care under an agreed series of short-term placements which later became continuous and b. include children in fostering placements with relative(s) or friend(s) or other foster carers who is/are also an approved adopter(s) – fostering for adoption/concurrent planning (placement codes U2 and U5) as a placement change. 3. A child is included as having been a. in care for at least 2.5 years if their period of care start date was on or before the 30 September of the relevant year  and b. in their current placement for at least 2 years if their episode start date for the relevant placement was on or before the 31 March of the relevant year.

    Number of rows
    1,993
    Indicators
    • Number of children
    • Percentage of total children
    Filters
    • Children looked after
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Accommodation of care leavers

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data on care leavers aged 17 to 21, by accommodation type (as measured on or around their birthday). Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. 2. 'Local authority not in touch' excludes young people where activity information is known, as a third party provided it even though the local authority is not directly in touch with the young person. 3. Accommodated with parents or relatives is likely to be an under count - if a young person's former foster carer is a relative they should be recorded as accommodated with their former foster carer. 4. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    17,929
    Indicators
    • Number of leavers
    • Percentage of leavers by accommodation type
    Filters
    • Accommodation type
    • Age at end
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after at 31 March by placement provider, placement type and locality

    National

    Children looked after at 31 March by placement type, placement location (inside or outside the council boundary) and placement provider. Data formerly in table A5. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Placement locality denotes whether or not the placement is within the geographical boundary of the responsible LA. 3. Placement provider is not applicable for children placed with parents. 'Placement provider not reported' includes children placed under other (unspecified) placements and some children placed for adoption (where information may be withheld to protect the whereabouts of the child)

    Number of rows
    433
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Placement provider
    • Placement type and locality
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Care leavers by whether their accommodation is suitable

    National

    Care leavers, aged 17 to 21, by whether their accommodation is deemed to be suitable. Data formerly in tables F2 and F4. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. 2. Accommodation suitable/not suitable figures also exclude young people who have gone abroad, been deported or their residence is not know as in these cases the suitability of the accommodation will be unknown. Regulation 9(2) of the Care Leavers Regulations defines what is meant by 'Suitable accommodation'. 'Not known' includes young people whose accommodation is not known because either the local authority is not in touch, or the young person has refused contact or no longer requires services.

    Number of rows
    73
    Indicators
    • Number of care leavers
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Age of care leaver
    • Suitability of accommodation
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Care leavers who left foster care aged 18 and who were eligible for care leaver support (Staying Put)

    National

    Young people aged 18, 19 and 20 who ceased to be looked after in a foster placement on their 18th birthday, were eligible for care leavers support and who were living with their former foster carer. Data formerly in table F2 and F4. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority.

    Number of rows
    13
    Indicators
    • 1. Young people who ceased to be looked after in a foster placement on their 18th birthday and were eligible for care leaver support
    • 2. Total living with former foster carers in the current year
    • 3. Percentage living with former foster carers in the current year
    Filters
    • Age of care leaver in the year
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Care leavers who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

    National

    Care leavers, aged 17 to 21, who were formerly unaccompanied asylum seeking children, by gender. Data formerly in table F1 and F3. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority.

    Number of rows
    55
    Indicators
    • Number of care leavers
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Age of care leaver
    • Gender
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after who were adopted during the year ending 31 March

    National

    Children looked after who were adopted in the year, by gender, age group at adoption, age at starting final period of care, primary need, ethnicity, duration of final period of care and final legal status. Data formerly in table E1. Note: Age group at adoption and age at starting final period of care include an average age value; duration of final period of care includes an average duration. These values are in the 'Number' indicator but are in the format (years:month). Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Category of need is the main category of the eight “need codes” at the time the child started to be looked after. 3. No new applications for freeing orders may be made on or after 30 December 2005, they were replaced by placement orders. 4. Period of care refers to a continuous period of being looked after, which may include more than one placement or legal status.

    Number of rows
    130
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percent
    Filters
    • Characteristics
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Children looked after numbers and rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 years

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data for: - Children looked after at 31 March - Children who started to be looked after during the year - Children who ceased to be looked after during the year Data includes numbers of looked after children, population and rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 years. Data formerly in tables LAA1, LAC1, LAD1. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Rates rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Rates per 10,000 children and young people aged under 18 years are calculated using the most recent mid-year population estimates from the Office for National Statistics. 3. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    1,495
    Indicators
    • Number of children looked after
    • Population estimate
    • Rate per 10 000 children aged under 18 years
    Filters
    • CLA population count
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after who were the subject of a special guardianship order during the year ending 31 March

    National

    Children looked after who were the subject of a special guardianship order (SGO) in the year, by gender, age group at SGO, age at starting final period of care, primary need, ethnicity, duration of final period of care and final legal status. Data formerly in table E5. Note: Age group at SGO and age at starting final period of care include an average age value; duration of final period of care includes an average duration. These values are in the 'Number' indicator but are in the format (years:month). Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Category of need is the main category of the eight “need codes” at the time the child started to be looked after. 3. No new applications for freeing orders may be made on or after 30 December 2005, they were replaced by placement orders. 4. Period of care refers to a continuous period of being looked after, which may include more than one placement or legal status. 5. In 2019 the detail collected for the status of special guardianship order was changed. As such, figures for the status of special guardianship orders from 2019 onwards are not comparable to earlier figures.

    Number of rows
    154
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percent
    Filters
    • Characteristics
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Children looked after at 31 March by LA of placement net gain

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data for children looked after at 31 March by numbers the LA places outside their LA and numbers other LAs place within the LA. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Net gain is the difference between the number of children who are the responsibility of other LAs placed within this LA boundary and the number of children who are the responsibility of this LA placed outside the LA boundary. 3. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    1,495
    Indicators
    • Number
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after at 31 March by placement type, distance and locality of placement

    National

    Children looked after at 31 March each year by distance between home and placement, by placement type and by locality of placement (placed 20 miles or less from home, or more than 20 miles from home). Data formerly in table A4. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Placement locality denotes whether or not the placement is within the geographical boundary of the responsible LA. 3. Living independently includes children in residential employment. Other includes placement in residential schools and other placements. 4. Distance is the distance in miles between the child's home and placement. In some cases this is not known, for example UASC, or not recorded for confidentiality reasons, for example some children placed for adoption.

    Number of rows
    193
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Type of placement
    • characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after during the year by placement type and locality

    National

    Number of new placements for children looked after during the year by locality of placement and distance between home and placement. Data formerly in table B2. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Placement locality denotes whether or not the placement is within the geographical boundary of the responsible LA. 3. Distance is the distance in miles between the child's home and placement. In some cases this is not known, for example UASC, or not recorded for confidentiality reasons, for example some children placed for adoption. 4. Placements denotes the total number of new placements starting during the year - if a child has for example, more than one foster placement then both will be counted. Living independently includes children in residential employment. Other includes placement in residential schools and other placements

    Number of rows
    217
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percent
    Filters
    • Type of placement
    • characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Care leavers by whether their accommodation is suitable

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data on care leavers, aged 17 to 21, by whether their accommodation is deemed to be suitable. Data formerly in tables F2 and F4. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. 2. Accommodation suitable/not suitable figures also exclude young people who have gone abroad, been deported or their residence is not known as in these cases the suitability of the accommodation will be unknown. Regulation 9(2) of the Care Leavers Regulations defines what is meant by 'Suitable accommodation'. 'Not known' includes young people whose accommodation is not known because either the local authority is not in touch, or the young person has refused contact or no longer requires services. 3. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    3,985
    Indicators
    • Number of leavers
    • Percentage of care leavers by suitability of accommodation
    Filters
    • Age
    • Suitability of accommodation
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Official Statistics - Children looked after who were missing

    National

    Note: These statistics are published as Official Statistics. Users should be cautious making comparisons between local authorities, or across years due to changing reporting practices - see the methodology document for further information. Children looked after who were missing. Figures by duration of missing periods, placement from which the child went missing and age of child at start of missing incident. Data formerly in table G1. Since 2017 a growing number of local authorities informed the department that they do not record incidents as 'away without authorisation' but instead report all incidents as  'missing' to maintain consistency with local police reporting. We estimate this could mean an overestimate of  the number of children with missing incidents of up to 8% in 2018, 10% in 2019 and 13% in 2020; suggesting the true figures could be more like 10,700, 10,800 and 11,000. There is a corresponding estimate of an undercount of the number of children with away without authorisation incidents of up to 18% in 2018, 22% in 2019 and 29% in 2020; suggesting the true figures could be more like 4,700, 4,700 and 4,800. However some of these local authorities submitted some 'away without authorisation' information and this has been included in the away from placement without authorisation table.

    Number of rows
    100
    Indicators
    • Measure
    Filters
    • Children looked after who were missing
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children who ceased to be looked after during the years ending 31 March by number of periods of care and placements, by age on ceasing

    National

    Children who ceased to be looked after during the year by number of periods of care, number of placements and age on ceasing. Data formerly in tables D4. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Only the last occasion on which a child ceased to be looked after in the year has been counted.

    Number of rows
    463
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percent
    Filters
    • Age on ceasing
    • Number of periods of care or placements
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after during the year and at 31 March for at least 12 months by characteristics

    National

    Children looked after at any time during the year, and those looked after continuously for at least 12 months at 31 March, by age, ethnicity, gender and placement type. Data formerly in table B1. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Age at the end of the latest episode of care, or at 31 March if child is still looked after. 3. Placements relate to the total number of placements made for each looked after child during the year ending 31 March. For example, if a child has been placed in a foster placement, with parents and also in a residential care homes they will appear three times in these figures - once in each category. If a child has had 2 foster placements and 1 placement in a residential care home, they will be counted once under foster care and once under residential care. For children looked after continuously for 12 months only the placement at 31 March is counted.

    Number of rows
    271
    Indicators
    • Number
    Filters
    • Population group
    • Type of characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children who ceased to be looked after during the year ending 31 March by characteristics

    National

    Children who ceased to be looked after during the year by gender, age on ceasing, reason episode ceased, legal status, category of need, ethnicity, placement and duration of latest period of care. Data formerly in tables D1, D2 and D3. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages and averages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Category of need is the main category of the eight “need codes” at the time the child started to be looked after. 3. No new applications for freeing orders may be made on or after 30 December 2005, they were replaced by placement orders. 4. 'Youth Justice legal statuses' refers to children: remanded to LA accommodation or youth detention accommodation under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; placed in LA accommodation under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; or, sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order with residence or intensive fostering requirement under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (as amended). 5. Only the last occasion on which a child ceased to be looked after in the year has been counted. 6. Foster placements 'not Fostering for Adoption or concurrent planning' include children in long term foster placements. 7. In 2020 there were 13 secure units in England, therefore most placements will inevitably be outside the council boundary.

    Number of rows
    385
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percent
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Time series of children looked after data - 1994 to 2020

    National

    National time series - 1994 to 2020. Covering: - Children looked after at 31 March - Children who started to be looked after in the year - Children who ceased to be looked after in the year - Children looked after who were adopted - Children looked after at 31 March who were unaccompanied asylum seeking children Data was formerly in table H1. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after or the last occasion a child ceased to be looked after has been counted. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. Figures for 1998 to 2003 are based on a one-third sample.

    Number of rows
    136
    Indicators
    • Number
    Filters
    • Population count
    Time period
    1994 to 2020
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  • National - Activity of care leavers

    National

    Care leavers, aged 17 to 21, by activity (as measured on or around their birthday). Data formerly in tables F1 and F3. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. 2. 'Local authority not in touch' excludes young people where activity information is known, as a third party provided it even though the local authority is not directly in touch with the young person.

    Number of rows
    469
    Indicators
    • Number of care leavers
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Age of care leaver
    • Filters
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Care leavers who left foster care aged 18 and who were eligible for care leaver support

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Young people aged 18, 19 and 20 who ceased to be looked after in a foster placement on their 18th birthday, were eligible for care leavers support and who were living with their former foster carer. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. 2. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    1,993
    Indicators
    • Number that ceased care
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Age
    • With former foster carer
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after who were adopted - number, gender and legal status of adopters

    National

    Children looked after who were adopted during the years ending 31 March by number of adopters, legal status of adopters and by gender of adopters. Data formerly in table E3. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. The Royal Assent to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act in July 2013 allowed same sex marriages to be performed from summer 2014. Different sex civil partnerships were allowed from December 2019.

    Number of rows
    58
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Characteristic level
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Care leavers in contact with local authority

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data on care leavers, aged 17 to 21, by activity (as measured on or around their birthday). Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. 2. 'Local authority not in touch' excludes young people where activity information is known, as a third party provided it even though the local authority is not directly in touch with the young person. 3. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    4,981
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Age
    • Contact with local authority
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children for whom the local authority has made the decision that the child should be placed for adoption, those placed and waiting for adoption and children where the decision to be placed for adoption has been reversed

    National

    Information on children for whom the local authority has made the decision that the child should be placed for adoption. Data formerly in E4. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Children for whom the LA has made the decision the child should be placed for adoption includes children who have been placed for adoption or adopted or who are waiting to be placed for adoption at 31 March each year, however the decision to adopt may have been made in an earlier years. 3. Relates to adoption decisions. Small numbers of children may be adopted without a formal adoption decision or may have an initial decision reversed before a new decision and adoption placement, so this figure may not be equal to other adoption figures reported in this release. 4. Children who have ceased to be looked after without being adopted - information is based on the year this outcome occurred, however the decision that the child should be placed for adoption may have been made in a previous year.

    Number of rows
    166
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Children looked after at any time during the year ending 31 March who were only looked after exclusively under a series of short term placements

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data for children looked after at any time during the year ending 31 March who were only looked after exclusively under a series of short term placements. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Rates rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Children looked after exclusively under one or more agreed series of short term placements at any time during the years ending 31 March.

    Number of rows
    499
    Indicators
    • Number
    Filters
    • CLA_group
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Conviction and health outcomes for children looked after continuously for 12 months

    National

    Children looked after at 31 March for at least 12 months, by OC2 indicators. These are: - Whether the child was convicted or subject to youth cautions, or youth conditional cautions during the year - Whether the child was identified as having a substance misuse problem, and if so, if they were offered an intervention and if they refused it - Whether the child had their annual health assessment - Whether the child had their immunisations up to date - Whether the child had their teeth checked by a dentist - If the child is under 5 years whether their development assessments are up to date - Information on Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores Data formerly in tables I1 , I2, I3, I4, I5a and I5b. Footnotes: 1. Figures include children who have been continuously looked after for at least 12 months as at 31 March and exclude children who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Age is as at 31 March. 2. Offending totals include a small number of children for whom offending data is not known (less than 10 each year). Latest available comparable offending figures from the Ministry of Justice for all children are for 2017 where 1% of all children aged 10-17 years were convicted or subject to youth cautions, or youth conditional cautions during the year. 3. Substance misuse is defined as 'intoxication by (or regular excessive consumption and/or dependence on) psychoactive substances, leading to social, psychological, physical or legal problems'. It includes problematic use of both legal and illegal drugs (including alcohol when used in conjunction with other substances). The term 'drug' is used to refer to any psychotropic substance, including illegal drugs, illicit use of prescription drugs and volatile substances. Young people's drug taking is often inextricably linked with the consumption of alcohol. Therefore the term 'substance' refers to both drugs and alcohol but not tobacco. 4. Immunisations were up to date by end of March. 'Up to date' means the child has had all immunisations that a child of their age should have received, according to the immunisations timetable produced by the Department of Health. 5. 'Teeth checked by dentist' records whether the child has had their teeth checked by a dentist in the year ending 31 March 6. 'Had annual health assessment' records whether the child received their annual health assessment from a doctor or other suitably qualified professional during the year. Both assessments must be carried out for under fives (once in every six months before the child's fifth birthday). For fives and over a single assessment fulfils the requirement. 7. Development assessment information is collected for children aged 4 or younger at 31 March who were looked after continuously for at least 12 months. This measures whether the child's health surveillance or health promotion checks were up to date. 8. Average SDQ scores have been rounded to the nearest whole number but are rounded to one decimal place in the underlying data file. An SDQ score is required of all children aged 4-16 on the date of last assessment. Date of assessment is not collected so data in this table is restricted to children aged 5 to 16 years. A higher score indicates more emotional difficulties. 0-13 is considered normal, 14-16 is borderline cause for concern and 17-40 is cause for concern.

    Number of rows
    1,261
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Characteristic by age groups
    • Gender
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Official Statistics - Children looked after who were missing or away from placement without authorisation

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Note: These statistics are published as Official Statistics. Users should be cautious making comparisons between local authorities, or across years due to changing reporting practices - see the methodology document for further information. Children looked after who were missing or away from placement without authorisation. Data formerly in table LAG1. Since 2017 a growing number of local authorities informed the department that they do not record incidents as 'away without authorisation' but instead report all incidents as  'missing' to maintain consistency with local police reporting. We estimate this could mean an overestimate of the number of children with missing incidents of up to 8% in 2018, 10% in 2019 and 13% in 2020; suggesting the true figures could be more like 10,700, 10,800 and 11,000. There is a corresponding estimate of an undercount of the number of children with away without authorisation incidents of up to 18% in 2018, 22% in 2019 and 29% in 2020; suggesting the true figures could be more like 4,700, 4,700 and 4,800. However some of these local authorities submitted some 'away without authorisation' information and this has been included in the away from placement without authorisation table. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    6,475
    Indicators
    • Number
    Filters
    • Children who are missing or away without authorisation
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Children looked after during the year ending 31 March by characteristics

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data for children looked after during the year by placement locality by reason for placement change. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Placement locality denotes whether or not the placement is within the geographical boundary of the responsible LA. 3. Distance is the distance in miles between the child's home and placement. In some cases this is not known, for example UASC, or not recorded for confidentiality reasons, for example some children placed for adoption. 4. Approval removed denotes where a setting is no longer approved/registered with the appropriate statutory body (eg Ofsted). Change in status of a placement only denotes where there is a change of status for the placement but the child remains with the same carer and there is no change to the care plan, for example if a foster carer moves house, or a foster carer working for a local authority becomes managed by an independent fostering agency. 5. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    9,463
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after at 31 March who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

    National

    Children looked after at 31 March each year who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, by gender, age group (at 31 March), primary need and ethnicity. Data formerly in table A3. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Category of need is the main category of the eight “need codes” at the time the child started to be looked after.

    Number of rows
    127
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Official Statistics - Children who were away from placement without authorisation

    National

    Note: These statistics are published as Official Statistics. Users should be cautious making comparisons between local authorities, or across years due to changing reporting practices - see the methodology document for further information. Children looked after who were  away from their placement without authorisation. Figures by duration of  period away from their placement without authorisation, placement  and age of child at the start of the incident. Data formerly in table G1. Since 2017 a growing number of local authorities informed the department that they do not record incidents as 'away without authorisation' but instead report all incidents as  'missing' to maintain consistency with local police reporting. We estimate this could mean an overestimate of the number of children with missing incidents of up to 8% in 2018, 10% in 2019 and 13% in 2020; suggesting the true figures could be more like 10,700, 10,800 and 11,000. There is a corresponding estimate of an undercount of the number of children with away without authorisation incidents of up to 18% in 2018, 22% in 2019 and 29% in 2020; suggesting the true figures could be more like 4,700, 4,700 and 4,800. However some of these local authorities submitted some 'away without authorisation' information and this has been included in the away from placement without authorisation table.

    Number of rows
    100
    Indicators
    • Measure
    Filters
    • Children looked after who were away from placement
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Reason for placement change during the year of children looked after by characteristics

    National

    Reason for placement change for children who moved placements in the year. Includes breakdowns by gender, age, placement type, duration of placement and category of need. Data formerly in table B4. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Age at end of placement. 3. When a child has more than one placement then each will be counted. Approval removed denotes where a setting is no longer approved/registered with the appropriate statutory body (eg Ofsted). Change in status of a placement only denotes where there is a change of status for the placement but the child remains with the same carer and there is no change to the care plan, for example if a foster carer moves house, or a foster carer working for a local authority becomes managed by an independent fostering agency. 4. Category of need is the main category of the eight “need codes” at the time the child started to be looked after.

    Number of rows
    1,407
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percent
    Filters
    • Characteristics
    • Reason for placement change
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Children who ceased to be looked after during the year

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data for children who ceased to be looked after during the year by: - age group - gender - reason episode ceased. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Only the last occasion on which a child ceased to be looked after in the year has been counted. 3. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    16,933
    Indicators
    • Number of children
    • Percentage of children
    Filters
    • Characteristics by detail
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after who were adopted - average time between the different stages of the adoption process

    National

    Children looked after who were adopted during the year ending 31 March by average time between the different stages of the adoption process and age at start of period of care. Data formerly in table E2. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Average time rounded to the nearest month. See the methodology document for further information. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. Age is as at the start of period of care. 'Number of children' is those who were placed for adoption within 12 months (i.e. less than 365 days, inclusive of date placed for adoption) of the decision that they should be placed for adoption. This figure excludes children who were placed within 12 months of the decision that they should be placed for adoption, but whose placement for adoption broke down before being adopted.

    Number of rows
    190
    Indicators
    • Number (Durations are expressed in years and months)
    Filters
    • Age at start of period of care
    • Stage of the adoption process
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Children looked after at 31 March by characteristics

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data for children looked after at 31 March by: - age group - category of need - distance between home and placement - distance between home and placement and locality of placement - ethnicity - gender - legal status - local authority of placement - locality of placement - placement type - placement provider - numbers of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Category of need is the main category of the eight “need codes” at the time the child started to be looked after. 3. No new applications for freeing orders may be made on or after 30 December 2005, they were replaced by placement orders. 4. 'Youth Justice legal statuses' refers to children: remanded to LA accommodation or youth detention accommodation under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; placed in LA accommodation under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; or, sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order with residence or intensive fostering requirement under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (as amended). 5. Foster placements 'not Fostering for Adoption or concurrent planning' include children in long term foster placements. 6. In 2020 there were 13 secure units in England, therefore most placements will inevitably be outside the council boundary. 7. Placement locality denotes whether or not the placement is within the geographical boundary of the responsible LA. 8. Living independently includes children in residential employment. Other includes placement in residential schools and other placements. 9. Distance is the distance in miles between the child's home and placement. In some cases this is not known, for example UASC, or not recorded for confidentiality reasons, for example some children placed for adoption. 10. Placement provider is not applicable for children placed with parents. ‘Placement provider not reported’ includes children placed under other (unspecified) placements and some children placed for adoption (where information may be withheld to protect the whereabouts of the child). 11. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    34,363
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Accommodation of care leavers

    National

    Care leavers aged 17 to 21, by accommodation type (as measured on or around their birthday). Data formerly  in tables F2 and F4. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. 2. 'Local authority not in touch' excludes young people where activity information is known, as a third party provided it even though the local authority is not directly in touch with the young person. 3. Accommodated with parents or relatives is likely to be an under count - if a young person's former foster carer is a relative they should be recorded as accommodated with their former foster carer.

    Number of rows
    379
    Indicators
    • Number of care leavers
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Current age of the care leaver
    • Type of accommodation the care leaver is in
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Activity of care leavers

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data on care leavers, aged 17 to 21, by activity (as measured on or around their birthday). Footnotes: 1. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures exclude young people who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements, those who have died since leaving care, those who have returned home to parents or someone with parental responsibility for a continuous period of at least 6 months and those whose care was transferred to another local authority. 2. 'Local authority not in touch' excludes young people where activity information is known, as a third party provided it even though the local authority is not directly in touch with the young person. 3. For some local authorities, such as Kent, the figures may be impacted by significant numbers of unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

    Number of rows
    9,961
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Activity
    • Age
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • LA - Conviction and health outcomes for children looked after continuously for 12 months

    Local authority, National, Regional

    Local authority level data for children looked after at 31 March for at least 12 months, by OC2 indicators. These are: - Whether the child was convicted or subject to youth cautions, or youth conditional cautions during the year - Whether the child was identified as having a substance misuse problem, and if so, if they were offered an intervention and if they refused it. - Whether the child had their annual health assessment - Whether the child had their immunisations up to date - Whether the child had their teeth checked by a dentist - If the child is under 5 years whether their development assessments are up to date - Information on Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores Footnotes: 1. Figures include children who have been continuously looked after for at least 12 months as at 31 March and exclude children who were looked after under an agreed series of short term placements. National and regional numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Age is as at 31 March. 2. Offending totals include a small number of children for whom offending data is not known (less than 10 each year). Latest available comparable offending figures from the Ministry of Justice for all children are for 2017 where 1% of all children aged 10-17 years were convicted or subject to youth cautions, or youth conditional cautions during the year. 3. Substance misuse is defined as 'intoxication by (or regular excessive consumption and/or dependence on) psychoactive substances, leading to social, psychological, physical or legal problems'. It includes problematic use of both legal and illegal drugs (including alcohol when used in conjunction with other substances). The term 'drug' is used to refer to any psychotropic substance, including illegal drugs, illicit use of prescription drugs and volatile substances. Young people's drug taking is often inextricably linked with the consumption of alcohol. Therefore the term 'substance' refers to both drugs and alcohol but not tobacco. 4. Immunisations were up to date by end of March. 'Up to date' means the child has had all immunisations that a child of their age should have received, according to the immunisations timetable produced by the Department of Health. 5. 'Teeth checked by dentist' records whether the child has had their teeth checked by a dentist in the year ending 31 March 6. 'Had annual health assessment' records whether the child received their annual health assessment from a doctor or other suitably qualified professional during the year. Both assessments must be carried out for under fives (once in every six months before the child's fifth birthday). For fives and over a single assessment fulfils the requirement. 7. Development assessment information is collected for children aged 4 or younger at 31 March who were looked after continuously for at least 12 months. This measures whether the child's health surveillance or health promotion checks were up to date. 8. Average SDQ scores are rounded to one decimal place. An SDQ score is required of all children aged 4-16 on the date of last assessment. Date of assessment is not collected so data in this table is restricted to children aged 5 to 16 years. A higher score indicates more emotional difficulties. 0-13 is considered normal, 14-16 is borderline cause for concern and 17-40 is cause for concern.

    Number of rows
    8,965
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Outcomes
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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  • National - Children looked after at 31 March by characteristics

    National

    Children looked after at 31 March each year, by gender, age group (at 31 March), primary need, ethnicity, legal status, motherhood status, placement type (at 31 March) and number of placements during the year (placement stability). Data formerly in table A1 and A2. Footnotes: 1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages rounded to the nearest whole number. See the methodology document for further information. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. 2. Category of need is the main category of the eight “need codes” at the time the child started to be looked after. 3. No new applications for freeing orders may be made on or after 30 December 2005, they were replaced by placement orders. 4. 'Youth Justice legal statuses' refers to children: remanded to LA accommodation or youth detention accommodation under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; placed in LA accommodation under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; or, sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order with residence or intensive fostering requirement under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 (as amended). 5. Percentages for all mothers aged 12 or over looked after at 31 March are the number of looked after mothers aged 12 and over as a percentage of all looked after females aged 12 and over. 6. Foster placements 'not Fostering for Adoption or concurrent planning' include children in long term foster placements. 7. In 2020 there were 13 secure units in England, therefore most placements will inevitably be outside the council boundary.

    Number of rows
    289
    Indicators
    • Number
    • Percentage
    Filters
    • Characteristic
    Time period
    2018 to 2020
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Data guidance

Description of the data sets included in this release, including information on data sources, coverage, quality and any data conventions used.

Description

This document describes the data included in the ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions: 2019 to 2020’ National Statistics release’s underlying data files. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License (opens in new tab) and is intended to meet at least three stars for Open Data (opens in new tab).

The methodology document for this subject should be referenced alongside this release. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality and how the data is produced.

A guide (opens in new tab) for the 2020 data collection provides further information on the data collected.

Coverage

This data is based upon information collected in the SSDA903 (CLA) data collection. It is a child level dataset collected from local authorities in England annually. The data includes information on: 

  • children looked after at 31 March in each year, including unaccompanied asylum seeking children
  • children looked after at any time
  • children who started to be looked after
  • children who ceased to be looked after
  • children looked after who were adopted
  • care leavers now aged 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 years old
  • children who went missing or away from placement without authorisation

 The longitudinal nature of the collection means historical information can be amended each year, so we update all time series figures published in each release.  Unless otherwise stated, numbers and percentage exclude children looked after under an agreed  series of short term placements. 

Information on children who are missing or who are away from their placement without authorisation are published as Official Statistics. Users should refer to the methodology guide when using this data and should be cautious interpreting any figures across years or between local authorities due to differing practices.

Users of the data should consider the following:

  • for some local authorities, for example Kent (886), the figures may be impacted by large numbers of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and their distinctive characteristics.
  • from April 2019 the three local authorities ‘Dorset’ (835), ‘Bournemouth’ (837) and ‘Poole’ (836) reorganised into  two local authorities ‘Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole’ (839) and ‘Dorset’ (838). As part of this, a small number of children formerly looked after in the Christchurch area of Dorset were transferred to the new authority ‘Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole’.
  • Information on children who are missing or who are away from their placement without authorisation are published as Official Statistics. Users should refer to the methodology guide when using this data and should be cautious interpreting any figures across years or between local authorities due to differing practices

File formats and conventions

Rounding and suppression

National and regional figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Local authority figures are unrounded.

Where any number is shown as zero, the original figure submitted was zero. 

The following symbols have been used in the releases (updated to align with GSS standards):

  • ‘c’ to protect confidentiality. Secondary suppression may be required
  • ‘z’ for not applicable
  • ‘:’ for not available
  • ‘~’ for negligible – also used for a percentage (<0.5%) that would round to 0 but is not zero

For percentages:

  • where the numerator or denominator is small then the figure is replaced by ‘c’
  • they may not sum to 100% due to rounding
  • they are rounded to whole numbers

Also in the release:

  • the average duration for adoptions (formerly table E2) are rounded to the nearest month
  • the average number of missing or away without authorisation incidents (formerly in table G1) have been rounded to one decimal place.
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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Children looked after in England including adoptions statistics and data:

Looked-after children statistics team

Email: cla.stats@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Justin Ushie

Press office

If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

Public enquiries

If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

Phone: 0370 000 2288

Opening times

Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5.30pm (closed on bank holidays)

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