700 Lancashire children on care plans

Hundreds of children in Lancashire have been placed under protection plans by social services because of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

According to figures released to the Evening Post under the Freedom of Information Act, County Hall’s social services officers currently have 700 child protection plans in place across Lancashire.

Almost 50 of these relate to sexual abuse incidents.

And the council says there are thousands more cases of alleged abuse currently being investigated.

County Coun Susie Charles, cabinet member for children and schools, said: “Like other regions, we have seen a rise in referrals due to nationwide publicity.

“We have recently approved an extra £5m for early intervention and prevention work with families. We are also recruiting more social workers to support vulnerable children and families.

“The investment will help us to tackle potential problems before they escalate and also to strengthen child protection services. We are also recruiting to increase our fantastic band of foster carers who take children and young people into their homes.”

The most common category of abuse is neglect. There are more than 300 such cases, including 56 in Preston – the county’s highest.

A further 255 relate to emotional abuse and again Preston has the highest figures, with 70 cases. A total of 86 cases of physical abuse are mentioned, with 10 in Preston. And 48 protections relate to sexual abuse, including one in Preston.