Child neglect cases (FOI)

Request

How many reports of neglect have been referred to police between 2018 and the present date?

Please provide a breakdown by year.

How many of these have resulted in further action being taken / prosecutions?

Please provide a breakdown by year.

How many cases of neglect have been referred to Children's Services during the same time period?

Please provide a breakdown by year.

How many of these resulted in a care application heard in the Royal Court?

Please provide a breakdown by year.

Response

The States of Jersey Police have assumed that the applicant is referring to the number of neglect reports relating to children. The number of child neglect cases, as recorded in a police "Child Protection" file is as follows:-

It will be noted that in the vast majority of cases, reports of neglect are not followed by a prosecution. Most cases relate to concerns that fall below the threshold required to prosecute. It is always preferable for professionals (both police officers and social workers) to try to work with parents to enhance the lives of their children. Prosecutions should be seen as the last resort. An example of a case which is unlikely to result in a prosecution could include an instance of untidy or unclean accommodation.

It should also be noted that in many cases, Children's Social Care refer cases to the police, and the police refer cases to Children's Social Care, thus, the same cases of neglect will be duplicated by both authorities.

¹ Numbers as of 8 March.

Where numbers are fewer than five, disclosure control is applied to avoid identification of any individuals. Article 25 (Personal information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Please note that referrals to Children's Social Care for all categories has reduced over the same period. This is as a result of the implementation of the Family and Community Support Service and the Children and Families Hub. Children and families now receive support as soon as their needs emerge and are supported to avoid escalating to a neglect referral.

The referral numbers were also impacted by the pandemic, school closures and changes to service delivery resulted in fewer referrals. The impact of the pandemic brought forward the opening of the Children and Families Hub and a media campaign was conducted to encourage referrals.

The police and other agencies flag indicators of neglect to Children's Social Care which are assessed as part of the social work and early help assessments. A range of other needs may also be identified during the referral and assessment process, before resulting in a care application. The number of children registered on a Child Protection Plan with a category of neglect has remained stable over time.

Article applied

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if – (a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and (b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

(3) In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of

information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.