Thousands of abused ‘slipping through child protection net’

Tens of thousands of Yorkshire children abused in their own homes are slipping through the net because local authorities are unable to protect them, the NSPCC is warning.

More than half a million children are abused or neglected at home each year in the UK, but just one in nine is protected by local authorities, the child protection charity said.

While services to protect children are improving it is warning they would only ever reach a fraction of the children who are abused.

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The scale of the problem is a key finding in the UK’s first national child abuse tracker How Safe Are Our Children, launched by the NSPCC today.

Its report reveals that for every child subject to a protection plan, or on child protection registers, another eight have suffered recent maltreatment.

For the 5,600 children on child protection plans in Yorkshire and Humberside, that equates to another 44,800 whose abuse, whether that is physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect, is under the radar.

The NSPCC’s regional head of service, Fiona Richards, said: “Abuse and maltreatment can have a devastating effect on a child’s mental and physical health. Without support to overcome their early experiences, a child can be scarred for life.

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“When we discover abuse we must do everything we can to protect children from further harm and help them recover. But child protection services are already working on overdrive, so we must prevent abuse from happening to so many children in the first place.

“We are working closely with statutory services and other partners in the area to develop services that are based on some of the best models of child protection in the world”.

The NSPCC estimates that 520,000 children were maltreated by a parent or guardian in the UK in 2011 but only 58,000 became the subject of child protection plans in that year.

The charity estimates it would cost up to £50m every year to provide protection plans to just a quarter of these “hidden” children.

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Preventative services which work with struggling parents before, or as soon as, issues arise can stop the need for costly protection measures later, the NSPCC said.

Among such schemes operating in Yorkshire, the Baby Steps project at Leeds and Bradford NSPCC service centres, is aimed at parents who are likely miss out on antenatal classes but could benefit from it the most.

Its sessions cover infant development, how parenting can affect their relationships, health and wellbeing, how to care for a baby and where they can get support when they need it.

Today’s report also outlines 19 indicators of child protection 
in England, Wales, Scotland 
and Northern Ireland and the charity will now monitor progress against the indicators on a 
regular basis to build up a picture of where targeted action is needed.

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Lisa Harker, NSPCC head of strategy and one author of the report, said child protection services had improved since the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly in London in 2007.

She said: “As a nation we spend more than £6bn every year on services for children and families. We need to know if our efforts to prevent abuse and protect children are working.

“The hidden extent of child abuse and neglect revealed in this report is a national scandal.

“Since Baby Peter, social workers and other professionals are working harder and harder to reduce the harm caused by abuse and neglect. They are taking more referrals, making more assessments, providing more services and putting more children in care.”

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She added: “It’s vital to prevent abuse from happening to so many children in the first place. We need to shift policy across the UK towards early intervention – and set a new course that can stop cruelty blighting so many children’s lives.”

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “We are clear that where children are suffering abuse or neglect, they should be taken into care more quickly.”