Reports of child cruelty and neglect have quadrupled in Wiltshire
There are calls for more to be done to protect young people
The number of offences of cruelty to children and young people recorded by police in Wiltshire has more than quadrupled in the last year.
According to figures released by the NSPCC through Freedom of Information Requests, 246 cases of child cruelty and neglect were reported to Wiltshire Police, up from 55 cases in 2021-22. That's an increase of 347%.
Nationally the child protection charity found that the number of offences had doubled from 14,263 in 2017-18 to 29,405 in 2022-23.
The figures come after a series of distressing court cases into the deaths of babies and children, including 18-month-old Alfie Phillips whose mother Sian Hedges, from Devon, and partner were found guilty of his murder last week.
The child protection system has been under substantial pressure over the last few years, particularly since the pandemic.
In 2022-23, more than 655,000 child in need assessments were completed by children’s social care to determine whether a child requires support from a service.
Likewise, Childline counsellors hear directly from children about the impact that abuse and neglect is having on their lives.
"Spiralling costs"
Currently, the frontline of child protection, including health, policing and children’s services, are experiencing spiralling costs and high demand.
England’s largest councils have reported that they are overspending on their budgets by over £600m due to ‘uncontrollable’ spending pressures driving up the cost of delivering services to vulnerable children.
"This is straining the child protection system and is leaving those who work with families unequipped to adequately respond when things reach crisis point", said a spokesperson from the NSPCC.
The child protection charity is joining other children's charities like Barnardo’s, Action for Children and The Children’s Society in asking politicians to commit to a reform of children’s social care and significant investment in early intervention and prevention, to improve the lives of babies, children and young people.
The NSPCC is calling on the current Government to accelerate their plans to reform the child protection system and ensure that practitioners across agencies are supported and equipped with the best possible skills and expertise to work directly with families and share information effectively.
Sir Peter Wanless, CEO at the NSPCC, said:
“These latest child cruelty figures are a stark wake-up call that our current system is struggling to prevent the horrifying abuse and neglect happening to some of the youngest and most vulnerable in our society.
“The Government has pledged to reform the child protection system to provide earlier support for babies, children and young people and stop families’ problems escalating to crisis point. The figures underline why it is urgent that these changes are delivered at pace alongside significant investment.
“We can not afford for this to be delayed any longer as there is a real danger we will continue to see these offences spiral upwards if significant change doesn’t happen."
Government pledging to reform children's social care
In response, the Government said it's investing over £45m on the Families First for Children (FFC) Pathfinder, which will design and test reforms across children's social care in a limited number of areas until March 2024.
The reforms will include introducing new roles, such as a Lead Child Protection Practitioner (LCPP) and Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs).
A Government spokesperson said:
“Any instance of child cruelty is abhorrent, and perpetrators will face the full force for the law.
“To transform the support for the most vulnerable children and families, we are working at pace to deliver ambitious and wide-ranging reforms, including introducing new, dedicated multi-agency child protection teams and creating a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available to more children.
“Spend on children’s social care is now over £10 billion a year and rising, and we have invested £200 million to implement our reforms and help families overcome challenges at the earliest stage and keeping children safe from significant harm.”