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.
Introduction
Child protection refers to a range of processes involved in considering, assessing, planning, and taking necessary action to protect a child from abuse or neglect.
These statistics include data collected from local authorities in Scotland on child protection and care and risk management processes.
Figures in this report relate to the reporting year 01 August 2023 to 31 July 2024. For purposes of presentation, table columns and chart axes refer to whole years (e.g., 2024 reflects 01 August 2023-31 July 2024 collection).
This report reflects revisions to figures for the preceding year (2022-23) in line with data validation improvements. As such, some 2022-23 figures may be different to those reported previously. Please refer to background notes on comparability over time.