Characteristics of children in need: methodology

Published:: 26 November 2020

Data collection and background

The children in need census is an annual child-level data collection by the Department for Education (DfE), which records individual assessment information and child characteristics for each child who has been referred to children’s social care services.

The collection of the data from each local authority enables the calculation of local- and national-level information on the numbers of referrals and assessments carried out by children’s social care services. The numbers of children in need and subject to a child protection plan are also calculated.

All 151 local authorities provided a return for the 2019 to 2020 collection.

The latest children in need census captured child level information on children referred to and assessed by children’s social care services within the 12 month period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. The census includes any child referred to children’s social care services within the year and also any cases open at 1 April 2019 for whom local authorities were providing a service, for example:

active case work
making regular payments
where funding or on-going services such as respite care has been agreed
maintaining a child with care and accommodation
a commitment to review the case at a predetermined date
maintaining a child’s name on a register that ensures the child and family receives targeted information or other special consideration

The 2019 to 2020 census was the tenth full year of the new children in need census. A collection covering a reduced 6 month period was carried out in 2008 to 2009 to collect information from the 1 October 2008 to 31 March 2009; however, following this a full year collection was introduced from 2009 to 2010.

A number of local authorities were unable to provide a complete, clean children in need return in the first full census in 2009 to 2010. On completion of the collection, a DfE review of the children in need census was carried out alongside the Munro review which resulted in some data items being removed from the 2010 to 2011 collection onward. Local authorities were no longer asked to return information on:

duration and types of services provided to children in need
information on the status of cases open at the end of the year
a flag to identify looked after children who had been adopted
a flag to identify asylum seeking children and the date they ceased to be asylum seeking
reasons for missing unique pupil numbers (UPN)

For 2008 to 2009 and earlier, information on referrals, assessments and child protection plans was collected through the aggregate ‘Child Protection and Referrals’ (CPR3) return. The introduction of the children in need census meant there was no longer a need to collect CPR3 and so it was discontinued after the 2008 to 2009 collection. The 2008 to 2009 period was a year where both collections were dual run. As mentioned, the children in need census was for 6 months of the year only, so CPR3 was the definitive data source for 2008 to 2009.

Although the information collected between the two returns is similar, the move from the emphasis being on local authorities to calculate indicators and return aggregate level information, to a child level national return where indicators are calculated by the Department for Education, mean that the figures are not directly comparable between the two returns. An example of this issue is that the aggregate returns were subject to a limited degree of local interpretation of definitions, for example, one key indicator looked at whether reviews were within the required timescales of three and six months. On moving to a centrally calculated indicator we identified that three and six months had been interpreted differently in different local authorities.

Further information on the comparability of figures between the children in need census and the CPR3 collection can be found in section 3 of the accompanying data quality document.

The data items collected in the children in need census include child identifiers and characteristics along with the dates of any referrals, assessments, section 47 enquiries and child protection plans and reviews.

More information on the collection is available in Children in need census guide to submitting data.

Children in need data is linked to children looked after data and the national pupil database (NPD). This linked data is used to produce outcomes statistics (for example key stages 2 and 4 attainment and progress) for children in need and children looked after, which are published in March each year.

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Data quality and cleaning

The children in need census data is collected through the DfE COLLECT (collections online for learning, education, children and teachers) system.

Local authorities upload their data extract to COLLECT whereupon a series of validation rules are run to identify any errors and queries with the data. Local authorities then have a period of time in which to resolve these errors and clean their data; the department provides help and support to local authorities throughout this period. Each local authority can add notes to their data return to highlight any year on year changes or explain any issues with data quality. These notes are examined by the department during the quality assurance process and, where applicable, followed up with individual local authorities.

Once all errors and queries have been resolved or explained, local authorities submit a final return by the end of July (although this deadline was extended to the end of August for the 2019 to 2020 collection). A full list of validation rules for checking queries and errors is available in Children in need census guide to submitting data.

Once data has been submitted by a local authority, DfE carry out further quality assurance of the data so that we can make an assessment of the confidence we have in the data returned and highlight any issues with quality.

There are validations build into the data collection that highlight where key measures (for example the number of referrals) have increased or decreased between census years. Where changes exceed the threshold we set we request feedback from local authorities during the collection period asking them to confirm that the changes are a true reflection in activity. However, it should be noted that a large change in figures between years does not necessarily imply the information provided is inaccurate.

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Data processing

Defining counts of children in need

The number of children in need is a key indicator, however there is no flag on the dataset to identify these children. Instead, it must be derived using a combination of other data items provided in the data return. Key data items for calculating the numbers of children in need are:

referral date
referral NFA (flag identifying whether the referral resulted in no further action)
reason for closure code

The methodology used to calculate the children in need numbers of the publication is outlined in the table below.

Historic issues with the classification of certain cases in relation to some of these measures have been identified and fixed within the current publication. Please see the dedicated section in the data quality and uses document, entitled ‘Children in need population figure time series changes’, which covers these changes in details. The definition of what is counted as a child in need remains unchanged.

Children in need episodes	These as referrals excluding cases where: a. The referral is flagged as being a referral resulting in no further action in the collection year 1 April to 31 March; or b. The only activity recorded against the referral was an assessment (there was no s47 enquiry or child protection plan) and the reason for the closure of the case being that the case was closed after assessment with no further action (using closure code RC8).
Episodes of need starting and children starting these episodes	These are episodes of need starting and children starting these episodes as defined above, where the referral is within the collection year 1 April to 31 March. The number of children starting an episode of need in the year, as defined above.
Episodes of need ending and children ending these episodes	These are episodes of Need ending and children ending these episodes as defined above, where the referral is within the collection year 1 April to 31 March. The number of children ending an episode of need in the year, as defined above.
Episodes of need at any point during the year and the number of children with these episodes	These are episodes of need at any point during the year and the number of children with these episodes as defined above, with an episode of need open at some point within the collection year 1 April to 31 March. The number of children with an episode of need at any point in the year, as defined above. Note: These are not necessarily children who have been in need for the whole of the year.
Children in need at 31 March	These are children in need (defined above) where the referral date is on or before 31 March of the reporting year and there is no closure date.

Referrals and assessments

Number of referrals

Figures are a count of referrals within the collection year 1 April to 31 March.

Number of children with referrals

Figures are a count of children referred within the collection year 1 April to 31 March.

Number of assessments completed

Figures are a count of assessments completed with an assessment authorisation date recorded within the collection year 1 April to 31 March.

Duration of assessments

The duration of an assessment is calculated as the time in working days between the assessment start date and the assessment end date.

Calculating referrals within 12 months of a previous referral

Figures are calculated by using data from the latest and previous collection years. Figures are a count of the number of referrals within 12 months of a previous referral, calculated as follows, for example:

Select the referrals that occurred between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 in the 2019 to 2020 data.

Select the referrals that occurred between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019 in the 2018 to 2019 data, but remove any duplicated children, keeping the latest referral for the child.

The two datasets are merged together and the difference in days between consecutive pairs of referral dates is counted by comparing referral 1 to referral 2, referral 2 to referral 3, etc. The referral is added to the count of re-referrals if the difference between the pair of dates is 365 days or less.

Calculating referrals resulting in no further action

For referrals within the collection year 1 April to 31 March, if the ‘ReferralNFA’ flag is equal to ‘1’ or ‘true’ then count the referral as one which resulted in no further action and exclude the case from any other populations.

Calculating children assessed not to be in need at assessment

If the referral is within the collection year 1 April to 31 March and is not counted as a referral resulting in no further action, we consider whether any other activity has been recorded against the referral (for example assessments, child protection plans). If the referral has only an assessment, and the referral has a closure reason of “RC8 – case closed after assessment, no further action”, then the child is included in the count of assessed not to be in need at assessment.

Factors identified at the end of assessment

For factors identified at the end of assessment we first select all episodes within the collection year 1 April to 31 March with assessment factor information. We then remove duplicate factors within each episode.

Section 47 enquiries and initial child protection conferences

Number of section 47 enquiries in the year

The number of section 47 enquiries is a count of cases where the section 47 actual start date is present and within the collection year 1 April to 31 March. Section 47 numbers have changed in the historical time series as the derivation no longer removes duplicate section 47s starting on the same day. This is occurrence is valid in specific circumstances, but only affects a very small number of records.

Number of children with a section 47 enquiry in the year

Figures are a count of children with a section 47 enquiry as defined above.

Number of initial child protection conferences taking place

Figures are summed from two parts of the return:

From the section 47 module (where conferences should be recorded when they are the result of section 47 enquiries). Using data in the section 47 module of the return, cases are selected where the date of initial child protection conference is present and within the collection year 1 April to 31 March. Any duplicates (based on date of initial child protection conference) are removed.
From the children in need details module (where conferences should be recorded when children who are the subject of a child protection plan transfer into the local authority). Using data in the children in need details module of the return, cases are selected where the date of initial child protection conference is present and within the collection year 1 April to 31 March. These cases are joined with the cases identified in part 1, so that where the recorded date of the initial child protection conference is the same, duplicates are removed from the count.

Number of children who were the subject of an initial child protection conference

Figures are a count of children with an initial child protection conference as defined above.

Child protection plans and children who were the subject of a child protection plan

The methodology used to calculate the number of child protection plans and the children who were the subject of a child protection plan is provided in the table below.

Child protection plans starting in the year and the number of children starting a plan	A count of the child protection plan start dates where the date lies within the collection year 1 April to 31 March. The number of children with plans starting in the year as defined above.
Child protection plans at any point in the year and the number of children with a plan at any point	A count of the child protection plans where the start dates are before 31 March of the collection year and the end date is on or after 1 April of the collection year (or is missing). The number of children with a child protection plan at any point during the year as defined above.
Child protection plans that ended during the year and the number of children who ended a plan	A count of the child protection plan end dates where the child protection plan end date lies within the collection year 1 April to 31 March. The number of children with a child protection plan that ended during the year as defined above.
Number of child protection plans open at 31st March	A count of child protection plans where the child protection plan start date is on or before 31 March of the collection year and there is no closure date.

Rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 years

The rates of children in need per 10,000 children aged under 18 years are calculated using ONS mid-year population estimates for children aged 0 to 17 years in England as the denominator.

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Definitions

Detailed information is available in Children in need census guide to submitting data.

The key aspects of referrals, assessments, initial child protection conferences and child protection plans are provided below.

Referrals

A referral is defined for the purposes of the children in need census as ‘a request for services to be provided by children’s social care services’. This is in respect of a case where the child is not previously known to the council, or where the case was previously open but is now closed. A referral should not be recorded if there is a case for the child already open. A referral can be made by a professional from one of many different agencies (typically in the health and education sectors) but the term as used here is a broad one which encompasses referrals from any source, including self-referrals.

A referral may result in:

an assessment of the child’s need
the provision of information or advice
referral to another agency
or no further action.

If a child is referred more than once in the year then each referral is counted in the figures in this publication.

Referrals leading to no further action

On receipt of a referral the local authority has one working day to decide what further work needs to be done. If more investigation is needed, then an assessment will be carried out. However, it may be that the referral can be resolved by providing some additional information, or referring to another agency or in some cases, no further action at all is needed. Thresholds, for deciding if further action is required, can vary from one local authority to another.

Assessment

Local authorities undertake assessments of the needs of individual children to determine what services to provide and action to take. An assessment should be completed within 45 working days of a referral.

An assessment is undertaken for any child who has been referred to children’s social care services with a request that services be provided. Statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ was revised in 2013 (and again in 2018) giving local authorities more flexibility when assessing children. Previously, local authorities carried out an initial assessment within 10 working days and (where needed) a more in-depth core assessment within 35 working days. All local authorities now carry out a single continuous assessment within 45 working days.

Child in need

A child in need is defined under the Children Act 1989 as a child who is unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health or development will be significantly impaired without the provision of children's social care services, or the child is disabled.

Section 47 enquiries and initial child protection conferences

If a local authority identifies there is reasonable cause to suspect the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm, it will carry out an assessment under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 to determine if it needs to take steps to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. If concerns are substantiated and the child is judged to be at continuing risk of harm then an initial child protection conference should be convened within 15 working days. The conference will result in a decision on whether or not the child will become the subject of a child protection.

Child protection plan and reviews

A child becomes the subject of a child protection plan if they are assessed as being at risk of harm, at an initial child protection conference. Once a child becomes the subject of a child protection plan, their plan should be reviewed within the first 3 months and then at intervals of not more than 6 months.

Children who cease to be the subject of a child protection plan

A child will cease to be the subject of a plan if:

it is judged that the child is no longer at continuing risk of significant harm requiring safeguarding by means of a child protection plan (for example the risk of harm has been reduced by action taken through the child protection plan; the child and family’s circumstances have changed; or re-assessment of the child and family indicates that a child protection plan is not necessary). Under these circumstances, only a child protection review conference can decide that the child being the subject of a plan is no longer necessary;
the child and family have moved permanently to another local authority area. In such cases, the receiving local authority should convene a child protection conference within 15 working days of being notified of the move, only after which event may a child cease to be the subject of a plan in respect of the original local authority’s plan;
the child has reached 18 years of age, has died or has permanently left the UK.

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Key users

The main users of the children in need data are:

the Department for Education who use the data to provide advice to Ministers on policy monitoring and setting future policies;
the local authorities who use the information to benchmark themselves against other authorities as well as regional and national averages;
Ofsted who use the information as part of their inspection activities.

Other known users of the data are:

the Ministry of Justice who use the data, particularly on the number of children on child protection plans, to forecast the number of public law cases likely to enter the courts;
the NSPCC Consultancy Service to understand numbers of children who are the subject of a child protection plan;
the NSPCC Information Service analyse the statistics with a particular interest in breakdowns by age, gender, category of abuse, ethnicity and disability;
the Metropolitan Police Service (Child Abuse Investigation Command) for research into child abuse;
Action for Children group looking into the number of children who were the subject of a child protection plan, by local authority and by category of abuse;
other UK government departments for comparison purposes;
The Home Office;
Office of the Children's Commissioner;
Academic researchers

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National Statistics

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

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

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

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Confidentiality and rounding

Confidentiality

The National Statistics Code of Practice requires we take reasonable steps to ensure that our published or disseminated statistics protect confidentiality.

c any number between 1 and 5 inclusive has been suppressed and replaced by ‘c’; secondary suppression has been applied where necessary, to preserve confidentiality.

z indicates data is not applicable.

0 the original figure submitted was 0 (zero).

: indicates that data is not available.

Data may not available for a number of reasons, including: a local authority was unable to return a particular data item in the children in need census; changes to the data collected in the census; or data is not available because of concerns regarding quality.

The symbols used are in accordance with the latest Government Statistical Service (GSS) guidance.

Rounding

England and regional totals are rounded to the nearest 10 and therefore may not equal the sum of their component parts.

Percentages are rounded to one decimal place, therefore component parts may not sum to 100.

Rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 years are rounded to one decimal place. Rates are calculated using ONS mid-year population estimates for children aged 0 to 17 years in England.

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