{"id":18,"date":"2021-03-11T15:15:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T15:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/specialguardianship\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2021-04-15T17:52:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T17:52:39","slug":"statistics-on-special-guardianship-in-england","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/specialguardianship\/statistics-on-special-guardianship-in-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Statistics on Special Guardianship in England"},"content":{"rendered":"

Statistics on Special Guardianship in England<\/h1>\n

Trends in special guardianship orders granted<\/h2>\n

Tracking trends in the use of special guardianship through robust national and local data is very important. It provides a barometer of practice by children\u2019s services and the courts and can help inform policy.\u00a0The Department for Education publishes an annual data set<\/a> on the care system and this is supplemented by updates on specific issues from the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The most recent data from the Department for Education<\/a> sets out the fall in the number of children leaving care through Adoption Orders and the rise in the number of children leaving care through a Special Guardianship Order.<\/p>\n

\"Adoption

Source: https:\/\/explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk\/find-statistics\/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions\/2020<\/p><\/div>\n

Cafcass data<\/a> has been used by researchers at Lancaster University<\/a> to compare the numbers and proportion of special guardianship orders with other types of legal order made following care proceedings between 2010\/11 and 2016\/17. This is a one-off national longitudinal survey.<\/p>\n

Both DfE and Cafcass sources used by Lancaster University show that in recent years special guardianship has overtaken adoption as the more frequent permanency option for looked after children unable to remain with their birth parents.<\/p>\n

\"Percentage<\/p>\n

\"percentage<\/p>\n

Who are the special guardians?<\/h2>\n

The DfE collects annual data<\/a> \u00a0on children who cease to be looked after through a special guardianship order. For the year ending 31st<\/sup> March 2020:<\/p>\n