Purpose of the Child Protection Register

The principal purpose of the register is to make agencies and professionals aware of those children who are judged to be at continuing risk of significant harm and in need of actual safeguarding through an Inter-Agency Child Protection Plan. The Custodians of the Register ensure that Protection Plans are formally reviewed, initially after 3 months and subsequently every 6 months.

The Register provides a confidential central point of speedy enquiry during office hours (out-of-office hours, this is directly to the relevant Children's Home by those who have authority to access the Register and via the Co-ordinator on Stand-By Duty for staff who are not so designated). This facility enables staff concerned about a child to ascertain whether the child is the subject of a Child Protection Plan.

Children may be harmed by physical, emotional or sexual abuse or neglect which may take place in a variety of settings. A Childs name can only be placed on the Child Protection Register by the decision of a Case Conference. The category of registration reflects the concerns relating to the particular child.

Another purpose of the register is to allow for the collation and analysis of information locally and regionally. There were 101 initial Child Protection Case Conferences convened during the year. This resulted in the names of 190 children being placed on the Child Protection Register.

In any attempt to reconcile these figures it must be understood:

- that there may be more than one child considered in the Case Conference;

- a child may be registered in more than one category of abuse;

Age Range of Children on the Child Protection Register by Trust, Age and Gender 
at 31 March 2005

Age Range	Sperrin Lakeland Trust			Foyle Lakeland			Western Area
	Gender
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
<1	4	0	4	5	9	14	9	9	18
1-4	9	7	16	30	23	53	39	30	69
5-11	30	29	59	39	37	76	69	66	135
12-15	15	19	34	26	21	47	41	40	81
16 Plus	3	0	3	5	9	14	8	9	17
Total	61	55	116	105	99	204	166	154	320

Length of Time on the Register at 31 March 2005

Period Registered as at 31 March 2005	Foyle Trust	Sperrin Lakeland Trust	Western Area
<6 Months	27	74	101
6-12 Months	18	42	60
1-2 Years	36	62	98
2-3 years	17	23	40
3+ Years	18	3	21
Total	116	204	320