A study of eight local authorities has highlighted reasons for the variance in council statistics on child protection and looked-after children.
The report by London University's Institute of Education found that variations had several causes: technical reasons such as poor recording systems or inaccurate use of statistics; where it was difficult to have exact figures, such as the large numbers of asylum-seekers; and questions of interpretation, for example to what extent ratings in indicators were a true reflection of services.
Other causes identified by the report were: policies and staff attitudes; the extent of inter-agency working; professional expertise and management skills; and availability of family support services could have contributed to the variations.
- Figures and Facts: Local Authority Variance on Indicators Concerning Child Protection and Children Looked After, available from 020 7612 6050.
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