One in 10 Glasgow youngsters were referred to children's reporters last year as national figures hit a record high, it was revealed last night.

Nearly 10,000 under-16s were flagged up for the children's hearing system, more than two-thirds of them because of concerns about their safety or well-being, the Scottish Children's Reporter's Administration (SCRA) said yesterday. They were among 56,000 youngsters across the country referred to the SCRA in 2006-07, a national total of more than a 150 a day and 4% more than a year before.

SCRA, which will publish full details of its annual report today, said the number of children referred on care and protection grounds soared 9% in the year while the number who had committed offences dropped, by 7%.

The body, which is responsible for looking at concerns about both the wellbeing and behaviour of youngsters, is coming under increased pressure because of rising numbers of referrals. Its chairman, Douglas Bulloch, hinted that some of the children referred may not have needed to be. Children's reporters and hearings took no compulsory action in respect of nearly 32,000 of the 56,000 youngsters referred.

Mr Bulloch said: "The 31,811 children, for whom there was no indication of a need for compulsory measures, nonetheless constituted a significant workload for the Children's Reporters in 2006-07, as they worked to ensure that no single child slipped through the net. SCRA has been working closely with its partners, locally and nationally, to address the challenging issue of ensuring only appropriate referrals are made to the Children's Reporter."

Adam Ingram, the Children's Minister in the Scottish Government, signalled that agencies should consider acting themselves immediately rather than seeing a referral to the SCRA as the be-all and end-all. He said: "Increasing referrals mean more young people who need help are being identified. But few of these referrals result in supervision requirements. I want to make it clear that agencies must take action when they spot a child who needs help.

"That means being proactive, getting together with education, police, social work and health colleagues and finding a way to support that child."

Almost a quarter of all children referred on care and protection grounds in 2006-07 were under four years old, a major increase. Mr Bulloch said: "These figures clearly indicate that the needs of children and their families have to be addressed much earlier."

The west of Scotland has traditionally encountered disproportionate numbers of troubled or troubling youngsters.

The share of the under-16 population referred to reporters was 10.1% in Glasgow and 10.4% in West Dunbartonshire. Fully 5.9% of Glasgow children aged between eight and 16 were referred on offence grounds in 2006-2007. The figure in West Dunbartonshire was 4.7%.