Once again, the latest batch of statistics from the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) makes distressing reading. The number of hearings held last year reached a record 42,302 and 13,219 children and young people were placed on supervision orders, again the highest-ever level. A great deal has changed in the 40 years since recognition that children who got into trouble were usually also children who were not properly looked after brought about the pioneering children's hearings system designed to tackle the underlying problems rather than compound them by punishment. Despite the advantages of the innovative aproach, which has been copied or adapted by countries across the world, the proportion of children in Scotland requiring compulsory intervention continues to grow, with a jump of more than 500 in the number requiring compulsory measures ranging from social work intervention at home to being placed in secure accommodation.

As a result of greater awareness of abuse, including sexual and emotional abuse in addition to obvious physical harm and neglect, referrals on grounds of care and protection increased until they have long accounted for the majority, as opposed to children referred because they were believed to have committed an offence.

Last year, 40,000 children were referred as in need of care and protection, with the most common reason that the child was a victim of a specific offence including cruelty, sexual offences, bodily injury and indecent behaviour. It is an appalling statistic, with the only shred of consolation amid such a grim catalogue being the knowledge that these children have been identified and provided with a measure of protection. Behind what seemed an inexorable increase in referrals (until they reached a record 56,199 in 2006-07) was the nagging fear that failure to refer could result in a child slipping, possibly fatally, through the net. The tragic roll call of children who had sparked anxiety but not been followed up until too late continues to prompt all those who work in social work, health, education and the police to err on the side of caution. The SCRA has instituted pre-referral screening with the aim of ensuring that only children likely to need complusory intervention are referred to the Reporter, resulting in a 10% drop in referrals last year. That is the context in which hearings and supervision orders have reached record levels, suggesting that the aim of concentrating on the most vulnerable children is being achieved. However, the process has not been applied across the country, and the referral rate in Glasgow is 9% compared with an overall rate of 5.5%.

At a time when the administration of the hearings system is being streamlined, there will be pressure to standardise procedures. That must not be at the expense of vulnerable children, however, while levels of deprivation will inevitably make the referral rate higher in Glasgow than elsewhere, that makes a system which gives priority to those most at risk all the more essential.