The number of care applications made in January has increased following a seasonal dip in December.
Cafcass revealed that 1,168 care applications were made in January, up from 1,008 in December. The figures also represent a 3 per cent rise from January 2017 when 1,135 care applications were made.
The 1,168 figure for January 2018 is the highest ever figure for the number of care applications made in January since the statistics started to be recorded.
So far this year April 2017 to now, there have been 11,756 care applications made and there are still two months of figures to note before the annual summary will be revealed. In 2016-17 there were 14,599 care applications made.
A statement from Nagalro said: “Although the number of applications for care orders shows no sign of reducing, the latest figures suggest that there has, at least, been a levelling off. The overall tenor of the latest statistics released by Cafcass continues to be a cause for concern.”
“In 2014/15, the number of new care applications received by Cafcass was a record breaking 11,159. The total had never reached this level before. By 2015/16 it had risen again to 12,792, representing a 14.6 percent rise from the previous year. In the following year 2016/17 the total rose again by a further 14.1% to 14,599 new applications for care orders. To date this represents the highest number on record for England and Wales.”
“So far as the present financial year is concerned, to the end of January there had been 11,756 new cases. In January 2018 there were 1,168 new cases which is the highest total for a January on record. Extrapolating those figures forward for the balance of the year to 31 March 2018, suggests that the annual total will be in excess of 14,000 new cases although possibly not quite as high as the previous year’s total,” the statement concluded.
