Child protection register
Request data on children on the child protection register.
Every council maintains a child protection register listing children considered to be at risk of significant harm. The number of children on the register and the concerns recorded tell you about the scale of child protection work in your area.
Dear [AUTHORITY NAME],
Please provide the following information as at [DATE e.g. 31 March 2025]:
1. The number of children on the child protection register.
2. A breakdown by the concerns identified at case conferences (e.g. domestic abuse, neglect, parental substance use, parental mental ill health, emotional abuse). Where more than one concern applies to a child, please include all concerns recorded.
3. The number of new registrations during [FINANCIAL YEAR e.g. 2024-25].
4. The number of deregistrations during the same period.
I would prefer to receive this by email.
Yours faithfully,
[YOUR NAME]
Who to send it to#
Your local council’s social work or children’s services department. Find your council on the Commissioner’s directory of Scottish public authorities. You can also send your request through WhatDoTheyKnow, which publishes responses online.
Tips#
- The Scottish Government publishes annual children’s social work statistics, including child protection register data. Check what is already available before making your request.
- Asking for a snapshot date plus registrations and deregistrations over a year shows both the current position and the flow of cases.
- In Scotland, multiple concerns can be recorded for each child. There is no single primary category, so the template asks for all concerns recorded.
- This request does not ask for any information that could identify individual children. If the authority raises concerns about anonymity, point out that you are requesting aggregate statistics only.