Schools are being forced to “pick up the pieces” over pupil safeguarding due to cuts to local authority social services funding, leading to a “rise in identification of needs” among teachers and other staff, an expert has warned.
Speaking as new government figures show the level of school referrals to child social services has increased by 50 per cent since 2014, Margaret Mulholland, SEND and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said that schools have been put under extra pressure due to an “erosion of support” for struggling families.
“Children’s social services should help prevent these issues from escalating to an extent where children are at risk of abuse and neglect,” she said.
“Without them, schools are increasingly being left to pick up the pieces; staff are already under significant workload strain but are doing their best to fill the void and good safeguarding practice by schools has led to a rise in identification of needs.”
Ms Mulholland also added to calls within the sector for more funding in order to bolster the “pastoral and specialist” support required by pupils suffering neglect and abuse, as well as better-funded social services.
The data shows that total referrals are at their highest levels since 2014, with 650,270 logged in the year ending in March 2022.
This represents an 8.8 per cent uptick from 2021, driven by a 59 per cent rise in referrals from schools, which totalled 129,090 against 85,630 in the year ending March 2014.
The DfE said that the rise this year “might have been expected” after the lifting of attendance restrictions in place during the pandemic.
Police remain the largest source of referrals to children’s social care, with 191,840 made across England this year, followed by schools.
Health services came in third highest with 96,170 by the end of March 2022 and local authority services were fourth highest with 87,300 referrals.
Elizabeth Rose, founder of safeguarding consultancy So Safeguarding, said the figures “reflect strongly” the importance of schools in keeping children safe from potentially harmful home life.
“The top three concerns reported to me by schools are domestic violence abuse, mental health and online safety concerns,” she said. “It is worrying that so many children are in need of help.”
Earlier this month, a group of former Ofsted inspectors called for the inspectorate to prioritise safeguarding checks over full school inspections.
The group, including former Her Majesty’s inspectors Adrian Lyons and Frank Norris, called for “fairly regular” safeguarding evaluations in schools to determine whether “current arrangements appear safe, and the school culture is positive”.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
