Children’s Social Work Statistics: Looked After Children 2023/24
Looked After Children Statistics for Scotland for 2023/24 that cover data on children who are looked after, young people in continuing care, and young people eligible for aftercare services.
Please note that the Publication Tables and Additional Tables Excel documents were revised on 24 April 2025 and 21 May 2025. See Contents pages for detail of tables subject to revision.
The number of children referred to the Children’s Reporter as at 31 March decreased by 54% from 19,077 in 2014 to 10,197 in 2024. The decrease over the past decade is the result of falls in both the number of offence (down by 22% since 2014) and non-offence referrals (down by 60% since 2014). Offence referrals now account for 26% of all referrals. The fall in referrals to the Reporter is likely to be due to pre-referral screening across many areas of the country. This has led to a reduction in referrals received by the Reporter where compulsory measures are not deemed necessary, and a proportionate increase in referrals, where deemed necessary.
Chart 5 Trends in other Children’s Social Work Data
Number of children referred to the Children's Reporter and numbers looked after/on child protection register, 2004-2024 [Note 1]
[Note 1] Data source for referrals to the Children's Reporter is from the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration website: SCRA