Publication - Statistics
Children’s Social Work Statistics: Child Protection 2023-24
Child Protection Statistics for Scotland for 2023-24 that cover data on children subject to child protection processes.
Please note that the Publication Tables and Additional Tables Excel documents were revised on 8 April 2025. See Contents pages for detail of tables subject to revision.
Key points
- On 31 July 2024, 2,129 children were on the child protection register, representing a 3% increase on 2023 (2,077) and a 26% decrease on 2014 (2,877).
- During the year, 3,167 children were registered onto the child protection register, representing a 2% decrease on 2022-23 (3,234) and a 31% decrease on 2013-14 (4,622).
- Around half (48%) of children added to the child protection register in 2023-24 lived in one of the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland. This compares to 3% in the 20% least deprived areas in Scotland.
- The most common concerns identified at child protection planning meetings for children registered during the year were domestic abuse (45% of children registered), neglect (42% of children registered), parental substance use (39% of children registered), parental mental ill health (37% of children registered), and emotional abuse (33% of children registered).
- 3,117 children were de-registered from the child protection register in 2023-24. This is a decrease of 2% compared to 2022-23 and a 29% decrease since 2013-14.
- Of the children being de-registered, around half (48%) had been on the register for less than 6 months.
- During 2023-24, 237 care and risk management meetings were recorded. The concerns noted most often were violence (51% of children), substance use (28% of children), harmful sexual behaviour (27% of children), unauthorized absences (27% of children), and non-violent offences (24% of children).