11/06/2012

NSPCC Report Record Number Of Calls

The NSPCC has said they received a record number if calls about child neglect last year, in what it has described as a “worrying trend”.

Between April 2011 and March 2012, it handled more than 12,000 contacts about neglect, the biggest number since its helpline was launched.

Some 8,600 led to the involvement of police or social services.

The NSPCC report said neglect calls had doubled in the past two years, and were up by a third in the last year alone.

A rise that is placing additional pressure on already stretched children's services, with more children being taken into care and families being affected by cuts.

Dr Ruth Gardner, head of the NSPCC's neglect programme, said the reason for the increase in neglect calls could partly be due to members of the public being more willing to speak out.

"This can only be a positive thing - but there is clearly a worrying trend, not just in our figures, but from a range of agencies and bodies. More research is needed on why this sharp increase has occurred," she said.

She said there was a need to provide social workers with better training and give parents "access to support to help them to change their neglectful behaviour".

(H/GK)


Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

28 August 2013
Pair Charged Over Beheaded Sheep
A man and a woman has been charged following the discovery on Monday or beheaded sheep at a farm in County Durham. Police say that on Monday the body of a sheep was found in a farmers field and its head was found in a rear yard. It is understood that an examination of the animal by a vet suggested that the sheep had been mutilated before it died.
30 May 2014
Dramatic Rise In Emotional Abuse Cases
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is experiencing a surge in the number of emotional neglect and emotional abuse cases, including those so serious they require onward referral to the police and children's services.
23 March 2012
NSPCC Report Delays In Reporting Child Abuse
Figures released by the NSPCC suggest that people are waiting over a month to report concerns over suspected child abuse. Out of a record number of 45,000 calls in 2011 to the NSPCC over half, 56%, had waited more than a month and more than one in four, 27% had waited six months.
07 February 2014
Hospitals To Log Female Genital Mutilation Victims
Ministers and FGM helpline practitioners are taking part in discussions on how they can work together to tackle Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) victims.
03 August 2009
NSPCC Calls Rise After Death Of Baby P
More people are calling the NSPCC Helpline about serious child abuse since the death of Baby Peter two years ago. Between April 2008 and March 2009, the 24-hour freephone service passed on 11,243 suspected child protection cases to police or social services - an increase of more than a third over two years.