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.
Please note that Table 1.5 was revised on 10 June 2025. This was to include the 2024 figures in the table, as shown in the Publication Tables Excel document.
Data and methodology
The data collection templates, data specifications, and guidance notes for the statistics presented in this publication are available on the Scottish Exchange of Data (ScotXed) website. The specifications include standard validation checks undertaken for quality assurance.
Data included in this publication come from administrative data held by local authorities. As this information is used to monitor and manage these sectors it should be robust and accurate. Automated validation checks are undertaken at the point the data are submitted. These validations are outlined in the relevant Scottish Exchange of Data (ScotXed) data specifications documents. Second level validation checks are then undertaken by the Children and Families Statistics as part of the quality assurance process. These procedures include: trend analysis, comparing against other available sources, and checking outliers with data providers. The data providers are then asked to confirm and sign off their data. In cases where concerns about data quality outweigh the value of having an estimated figure publicly available, we do not publish that particular information.
Where data need to be revised due to the resubmission of data for a particular year, or to correct errors, the timing will be announced on our website and by email to those who have registered an interest in our statistics. The impact of revisions will be clearly explained in our published reports.
Comparability over time
Since 2012-13, Child Protection data has been collected at an individual level in Scotland. It has been normal practice that during the collection process local authorities are given the option to revise their data for the previous year. This report reflects those updates provided by local authorities for the preceding year.
Prior to 2011-12, some local authorities did not place ‘unborn’ children on the Register until the child was born. The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 - updated 2023 states that ‘unborn’ children should be placed on the Register if this is required, and not wait until the child is born.
From this year, statistics on the rate of children per 1,000 children in the population refer to children aged 0-17. In previous years, calculations were based on the population aged 0-15. This change reflects the scope of the National Guidance, which includes unborn babies and children under the age of 18 years.
Data collected for the 2023-24 statistics include changes to the longstanding child protection annual data collection, which affect comparability of some statistics over time. These include the introduction of data on:
- Child protection interagency referral discussions, including area deprivation data, indications of joint investigative interviews taking place, and indications of medical examinations taking place. This part of the data collection replaces the child protection investigations dataset in previous years.
- Child protection concern categories as defined in the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 - updated 2023, which includes a more detailed list of concern categories compared to those included in previous versions of these statistics.
- Care and risk management referrals and meetings.