Rise in kids on child protection register

THE number of vulnerable children on the Child Protection Register in Dumfries and Galloway rose by 27 percent last year, it has been revealed.

Dozens of the youngsters were brought to the attention of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s social work services primarily due to issues including neglect, emotional abuse, and domestic abuse.

Meanwhile, the number of children referred into the Children’s MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) increased by 21 percent compared to the previous year.

The sobering stats were laid bare in the region’s chief social work officer’s annual report for 2024/25.

The report listed various notable successes over the past year, including the creation of a strong kinship care team supporting kinship carers in the community, and the introduction of intensive support outreach team to assist families who are in crisis.

However, Stephen Morgan, chief social work officer admitted that 2024/25 was another busy, difficult year for social work’s children and families service. He praised staff for their work during challenging times, with many social work vacancies still to be filled.

Mr Morgan wrote: “During this period there were 3645 contacts, with 824 referrals to the service in which we continually deal with some very complex and challenging areas of work.”

He continued: “As of March 31, 2025, there were 65 children on the Child Protection Register, an increase of 27 percent compared to last year. The most prevalent risk factors being neglect, emotional abuse, domestic abuse and children affected by parental mental ill-health.

“We saw a small number of re-registrations within a two-year period of registration, consistent with the numbers seen in the previous reporting year. This was explored by Senior Social Work Managers who found that similar and new concerns brought the children back to registration.

“We have progressed with plans for children subject to legal orders to support them to achieve their permanent destination. On March 31, 2025, we had 261 children subject to a Compulsory Supervision Order (CSO), with 108 new CSOs and 82 terminations of CSOs which evidences the work that is being completed by our Child Protection/Permanence teams, with a number of children having achieved permanence through adoption or permanence orders.

“We have had a period of high numbers on the child protection register.

“This impacts the pressures faced by the service, and we recognise there is an unusually high number of children on the child protection register in a specific area of the region which has presented us with some challenges with regards to our current staffing situations.”

A total of 52 children affected by domestic or sexual abuse were newly registered under child protection in the current year, which is an increase of four percent compared to the previous year, alongside an overall increase in the number of children and young people newly registered.

The annual report will be presented to councillors for discussion at the council’s social work committee next Thursday.