Although the trend line now appears to be flattening, the
fact that July saw an all time high in the number of applications for Care
Orders in England has to be of concern.
What Cafcass chief, Anthony Douglas, calls “the continuing
volatility” in demand for Care Orders makes it very difficult to plan – both
for Children’s Services and for the Courts.
From some of the more detailed information that Cafcass
publishes on this issue, it can be seen that since 2008 the rate of demand for
Care Orders has increased markedly in some local authorities but not in others.
In Southend, for example, the rate per 10,000 children more
than tripled from 3.1 in 2008-9 to 9.7 in 2013-14, whereas in neighbouring
Essex over the same period the rate actually fell from 4.8 to 4.0.
Some
authorities with very high rates in 2013-14 are Blackpool (22.2), Coventry
(18.1), North East Lincolnshire (20.7), Nottingham (18.0), Southampton (21.6),
Torbay (23.1) and Wolverampton (24.7). These figures compare with a national
average rate of 9.2, in 2013-14, which has risen from 5.9 in 2008-9.
I for one am not clear where the extra resources to deal
with all this extra work are coming from. I wonder if they know in the
Department for Education?
