Council steps in to protect hundreds of city children

Hundreds of abused and neglected children in Peterborough needed local authorities to step in and protect them over 12 months, according to figures from the Department for Education.

The latest figures show that 337 child protection plans, were implemented in Peterborough in the year ending March 2017.

Child protection plans are put in place after a child is taken into police protection or put under an emergency protection order, or if there is a strong suspicion that a child will suffer significant harm.The most common reason was neglect, which accounted for 223 or 66 per cent of cases.

But 11 were for sexual abuse, 20 were for physical abuse and 83 were for emotional abuse. For every 1,000 youngsters under 18 in Peterborough, seven were under child protection plans.

Across the east of England, 5,270 child protection plans were implemented between April 2016 and March 2017, a rate of four for every 1,000 children.

The rate in Peterborough was higher than that for the whole of England, where there were six child protection plans for every 1,000 children.

The figures also show there were 15 per cent fewer child protection plans implemented in 2016/17 in Peterborough than during the previous 12 months, but across the whole of England the number increased by five per cent, representing some 3,100 children.