Information on referrals to children’s services and section 47 enquiries are collected annually on the Child Protection Register survey (CPR3). Data were first collected in 2001 but the referrals data were not thought to be reliable in that first year of collection. Information for the years available is shown in the following table .
The CPR3 defines a referral as a request for services to be provided by the local authority. A referral can be made by a professional from one of many different agencies (typically in the health and education sectors) or from any other source, including self-referral. The survey does not provide the reason for the referral.
Where there is suspicion that a child may be suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, local authorities are required to make enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 to establish whether there is a need for action to safeguard or promote the child's welfare.
Years ending 31 March All referrals during year Children subject to s.47 enquiries in the year2 2001 not available 80,100 2002 569,400 69,900 2003 570,200 65,000 2004 572,700 72,100 2005 552,000 68,500 2006 569,300 71,800 1 Numbers in this table include unborn children. 2 Data for 2002 and 2003 are estimates that take account of missing data.