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Scottish cities

Numbers of looked-after children in Scottish cities
lac comp scotcities abs 2020There was a total of 14,262 looked-after children in Scotland in 2019. Just over 2,500 children were looked after in Glasgow in 2019, 18% of the Scottish total.

Trends in numbers of looked-after children, Scottish cities

Lac trend scotcities abs 2020Percentages of looked-after children in Scottish cities

lac comp scotcities pc 2020

Glasgow has the highest percentage of looked after children (2.3%) out of the four major Scottish cities. Dundee and Glasgow had a higher percentage of looked after children than Scotland as a whole (1.4%).

Trends in percentages of looked-after children, Scottish cities

Lac trend scotcities pc 2020Glasgow has the highest percentage of children who are looked after in relation to the entire population aged under 18, compared to the other three major Scottish cities. Aberdeen and Edinburgh have the lowest rates, which are quite similar to the Scottish average.  

Numbers of looked-after children from a minority ethnic group in Scottish cities

Lac trend scotcities ethnic 2020The chart above indicates that relatively few children from a minority ethnic background are looked after. These children appear to be under-represented in the looked-after population in general; however, this is difficult to evidence.

The numbers of looked-after children from minority ethnic groups appear to be relatively stable across the time period in all four cities and in Scotland as a whole, despite a sharp, temporary increase in 2015 in the Scottish trend.

Numbers of looked-after children with a disability in Scottish cities

Lac trend scotcities disability 2020Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee have fewer looked-after children with disabilities than Glasgow.

The number of looked-after children with disabilities was increasing in Scotland until 2015, when it began to decrease again. The number of looked-after children with disabilities in Glasgow has also decreased since 2015.

Notes

Looked-after children - This indicator reports information on numbers of 'looked after' children and care leavers, aged 0 to 21 years. Estimates of the 0-18 years population are applied to calculate relative measures of percentage of the child population. (Few children aged 18+ are 'looked after' which explains why the population base used is 0-18 years rather than 0-21 years).

Data for this indicator at Scotland and Scottish local authority level, including Glasgow City Council, was sourced from the Scottish Government annual report on Children Looked After Statistics. This report is compiled by the Scottish Government from annual data returns on 'looked after' children and care leavers, which are submitted by all 32 local authorities in Scotland. Some information at Glasgow and sub Glasgow level was extracted from Social Work Services monthly performance reports.

Children most commonly become 'looked after' following a referral to the Children's Reporter. 

The number of children who are social work service users (including those 'looked after' and accommodated or on the Child Protection Register) is derived from careFirst (the client information system used by Glasgow City Council Social Work Services); population estimates for areas within Scotland are obtained from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) (formerly GROS) or from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for English local authorities and numbers/rates of children referred to the Children’s Reporter are drawn from the SCRA website.

Further reading under ‘Looked-after children’