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Nearly 50,000 vulnerable children may have ‘dropped off the radar’ of social services during the pandemic.
The number of new cases referred to children’s services departments fell by 45,220 – or 7 per cent – from 2019-20 to 2020-21.
The total dropped to 597,760 for the year to March 2021, the lowest figure since records began in 2013.
By contrast, the total for 2018-19, before the pandemic, was 650,930.
The Department for Education said the sharp reduction was driven by a fall in referrals from schools, which were closed for most pupils during lockdown.
Pictured: Six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with father Thomas Hughes and Thomas' partner Emma Tustin
Tim Loughton, a former children’s minister, said the pandemic had put vulnerable children such as Arthur Labinjo-Hughes at greater risk.
