Reporting year 2024

Serious incident notifications

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Introduction

This annual release contains statistics on serious incidents involving children that local authorities have notified the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (opens in a new tab) about. 

Notifiable serious incidents are those that involve death or serious harm to a child where abuse or neglect is known or suspected, and any death of a looked after child. 

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. 

Each reporting year covers the year ending 31 March, with the most recent 2024 statistics covering the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. Prior to this release, the financial year identifier was used but it has been changed to reporting year for consistency with Department for Education statistics releases on Children in need and Children looked after. The period covered in this 2024 release is unchanged from earlier releases. 

Time-series comparisons in this release are made from 2019 onwards i.e. when the Department first became responsible for producing and publishing these statistics (was Ofsted previously).


Headline facts and figures - 2024

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About these statistics

The Children Act 2004 (as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017 (opens in a new tab)) states that where a local authority in England knows or suspects that a child has been abused or neglected, the local authority must notify the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (opens in a new tab) (the Panel) and by extension the Department for Education and Ofsted if:

(a) the child dies or is seriously harmed in the local authority’s area, or 

(b) while normally resident in the local authority’s area, the child dies or is seriously harmed outside England.

The local authority must also notify the Secretary of State for Education and Ofsted where a looked after child has died, whether or not abuse or neglect is known or suspected.

The statutory duty to notify the Panel, and by extension the Department and Ofsted, came into effect from 29 June 2018. Prior to this, notifications were made only to Ofsted.

Serious harm includes (but is not limited to) serious and/or long-term impairment of a child’s mental health or intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development. It also covers impairment of physical health.

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 Panel within 5 working days of becoming aware that the incident has occurred. However, in some cases, there can be delays in notifications being submitted. In addition, whilst reporting has improved in recent years, the Department is aware that, in some instances, not all incidents that meet the definition for a serious incident are notified.

Total number of notifications

The Department is aware that, in some instances, not all incidents that meet the definition for a serious incident are notified. It is not possible to ascertain whether the fall in 2024 reflects a decrease in serious incidents or whether fewer notifications were reported compared with earlier years. Therefore, this needs to be considered when interpretating the fall.

Figures on serious incident notifications between 2015 and 2018 are based on Ofsted published data (opens in a new tab) and for 2019 onwards are based on Department for Education data.

The rate (of notifications per total child population) in this section was calculated based on the 2022 mid-year ONS population estimates (opens in a new tab) for England as they were the latest available estimates at the time of publication.

In 2024, there were 405 notifications, down 51 from a year earlier and down 93 from 2019. The latest figure represents the lowest since the Department became responsible for producing and publishing these statistics.

The Department will continue to work with the Panel and local authorities to encourage the notification of serious incidents that meet the criteria as set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 (opens in a new tab).

In 2024, there was approximately one notification per every 29,000 children (aged 0-17) in England, equivalent to 0.003% of the total child population.

It is not possible to ascertain from the figures whether the annual increase in 2021, which also represents the series peak, was linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Panel noted in their 2020 Annual report (opens in a new tab) (page 9) ‘Evidence from our analysis of Serious Incident Notifications and rapid reviews is that the COVID-19 outbreak continues to present a situational risk for vulnerable children and families, with the potential to exacerbate pre-existing safeguarding risks and bring about new ones.’

Nature of notifications

Serious incident notifications are categorised as either child death, serious harm, or other. The majority of notifications in the other category relate to incidents with child perpetrators who were themselves known or suspected to have been abused or neglected.

The Department is aware that, in some instances, not all incidents that meet the definition for a serious incident are notified. It is not possible to ascertain whether the fall in 2024 reflects a decrease in serious incidents or whether fewer notifications were reported compared with earlier years. Therefore, this needs to be considered when interpretating the fall.

2024 statistics on notifications relating to children looked after by local authorities (CLA), at national level only and with breakdowns by nature of notification only, are included in this statistics release for the first time following the addition of CLA status to the Child Safeguarding Incident Notification System (opens in a new tab).

A child is looked-after by a local authority if they are:

  • provided with accommodation, for a continuous period of more than 24 hours;
  • subject to a care order; or
  • subject to a placement order.

The annual decrease in 2024 in total notifications (down 51) was driven by a fall in serious harm notifications (down 64) but offset by smaller rises in child death (up 4) and other notifications (up 9). The number of serious harm notifications in 2024 was the lowest since the Department became responsible for producing and publishing these statistics in 2019.

The decrease between 2019 and 2024 in total notifications (down 93) was also driven by a fall in serious harm notifications (down 56), but there were also falls in child death (down 22) and other notifications (down 15).

In 2024, for the first time since the Department became responsible for producing and publishing these statistics, child death notifications were more common than serious harm notifications. In 2024, over 1 in 4 child death notifications related to CLA (27% or 55 notifications).

Child characteristics

All data in this release is based on single notifiable incidents. In some instances, a notification can relate to more than one child; when this happens, the characteristic information is based on one child only (either the first child listed on the notification or the child whom the harm relates to). Therefore, in some instances, the characteristics information doesn’t always relate to all children involved in the serious incident and this should be considered when interpreting the figures. The characteristic information is identified as at the point of notification.

The Department is aware that, in some instances, not all incidents that meet the definition for a serious incident are notified. It is not possible to ascertain whether the fall in 2024 reflects a decrease in serious incidents or whether fewer notifications were reported compared with earlier years. Therefore, this needs to be considered when interpretating the fall.

Comparisons between characteristics data over time and between different characteristics in any given year should be made with caution due to the small sizes of some breakdowns.

The figure on the children in need population (excluding unborn children) is from the latest (at the time of release) 2023 Children in need statistics, produced by the Department for Education. Children in need are those assessed as needing help and protection from children's social care services as a result of risks to their development or health.

Serious incident notifications by age

The annual decrease in 2024 in total notifications (down 51) was mainly driven by a fall in notifications for children aged 5 and under; specifically, under 1s (down 28), and those aged 1 to 5 (down 19).

The decrease between 2019 and 2024 in total notifications (down 93) was also driven by a fall in notifications for under 1s (down 31), as well as a fall in those aged 11 to 15 (down 21). There was also a decrease in notifications for those with unknown age (down 37), although this is attributable, at least in part, to improved reporting of data.

Despite the fall in notifications for under 1s, this remained the most common age group in 2024, accounting for 1 in 3 notifications (33%). In comparison, at 4%, under 1s accounted for a much smaller proportion of the Children in need population.

Serious incident notifications by gender

Among both males and females, total notifications decreased between 2023 and 2024 and between 2019 and 2024. The decreases were larger for males (down 35 and 60 respectively) than for females (down 14 and 32 respectively).

In 2024, males continued to be the most common gender, accounting for 53% of all notifications. Similarly, at 54%, males are also over-represented in the Children in need population. 2% of notifications related to transgender children in 2024.

Serious incident notifications by ethnicity 

In 2024, based on notifications recorded with a known ethnicity, 36% related to ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities), which is higher than both the most recent Children in need figure (31%) and the figure among children (aged 0 to 17) from the 2021 census (opens in a new tab) (27%).

Serious incident notifications by disability status

Comparisons are made with 2020, not 2019, as there may be an undercount in the number of notifications in 2019 recorded with a disability status of not known (with a corresponding overcount in the number of notifications recorded as involving children with no disability).

Based on notifications with a known disability status, around 1 in 4 (23%) involved a child with a disability in 2024, up from around 1 in 7 in 2020 (15%).

Placement at time of incident

In 2024, the majority of notifications related to children living at home, accounting for around 7 in 10 notifications (71%). This pattern has remained consistent over time.

Children looked after by local authorities, on a child protection plan, or known to any agency

Children looked after (CLA)

In 2024, around 1 in 4 notifications (24%) related to CLA (see ‘Nature of notification’ section for background information on the inclusion of CLA figures for the first time in these 2024 statistics).

Children on a child protection plan

Comparisons are made with 2020, not 2019, as there may be an overcount in the number of notifications in 2019 recorded as relating to those on a child protection plan.

In 2024, around 1 in 11 notifications (9%) related to children on a protection plan, up slightly from around 1 in 12 notifications in 2020 (8%).

Children known to any agency

The following points on children known to any agency should be considered when interpreting the statistics:

  • whether a child was known to any agency is interpreted differently across local authorities. Some local authorities only include children known to Children's Social Care but in other cases can include agencies such as the police, GP services, health visitors, early help, midwifery, etc.
  • children known to GP services have been excluded (where this information was recorded) from 2023 onwards but were included prior to 2023.
  • they can include children involved with agencies previously, and not just at the time of incident.
  • information is recorded at the time of reporting. Local authorities may not yet know whether the child was known to any agency.

In 2024, over 3 in 4 or 77% of notifications involved children who were known to any agency, the lowest proportion in the series. The lower proportions in 2023 (78%) and 2024 compared with earlier years (at least 83%) are likely attributable, at least in part, to children known to GP services being excluded (where this information has been recorded) from 2023 onwards.

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Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

Official statistics

These are Official Statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

This can be broadly interpreted to mean that these statistics are:

  • managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
  • meet identified user needs
  • produced according to sound methods
  • well explained and readily accessible

Find out more about the standards we follow to produce these statistics through our Standards for official statistics published by DfE guidance.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Serious incident notifications statistics and data:

Children’s Services Statistics Team

Email: sin.stats@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Louis Erritt

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