Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the change in the level of demand for (a) children’s social care and (b) children and adolescent mental health services since schools returned for the 2020 autumn term.

The department has been working closely with local authorities to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children’s services, including any increases in demand, setting up dedicated regional teams that are in frequent contact.

We are monitoring referrals to children’s services via our regional teams and via the Vulnerable Children and Young People survey, which collects data fortnightly from local authorities in England. The latest release is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vulnerable-children-and-young-people-survey.

The most recent data collection (19-21 October) shows that the total number of children looked after was 7% higher than the same time in 2018 and the total number of children on a child protection plan was 1% higher.

Overall, the total number of referrals to children’s social care services was 6% lower than the 3 year average of the same week across 2016 to 2018.

NHS Digital publish data on referrals to mental health services here: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/mental-health-data-hub/mental-health-services-monthly-statistics.

Referrals to mental health services since the beginning of the autumn term will be published in due course.

The government has provided £4.6 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19 related pressures, including in children’s services.