Caring about care proceedings

A critical evaluation of the datasets relating to proceedings to protect children and the orders made in them. Changes in policy, particularly the increase of court fees paid by local authorities and changes to court process and the death of Baby P have resulted in a focus on the available statistics. Data is collected for the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Children Schools and Families as well as by Cafcass, the body responsible for welfare reports for the courts. However, Poor data quality, lack of trend data and a failure to undertake appropriate analysis mean that none of the organisations has a robust foundation for understanding changes and their impact.