ts. The England number is extrapolated from 122 local authority responses based on proportion of England population. Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 6 Phase 7 Phase 8 Phase 9 2013–14 2015–16 2017–18 2019–20 2021–22 2023–24 Re-referrals % 23% 20% 20% 21% 20% 22% 4.3 Child protection plans Figure 16: Summary of child protection plans starting in the year Source: SP9 respondents. Number extrapolated from 123 local authority responses based on the proportion of the England population. Extrapolated across England, SP9 data show just under 62,000 child protection plans starting in the year ending 31 March 2024. While for some, increases in contacts and referrals led to increased numbers of children in need plans and child protection plans, as Figure 16 shows, the overall trend has been broadly steady with a slight decline in the number of children with child protection plans starting in this research period. Interviews with around a third of DCSs noted such a decline and attributed this primarily to intensive quality assurance and improvement activity to make sure services were responding as early as possible and holding cases at the most appropriate level. 51,558 60,048 63,042 68,617 67,253 63,799 61,951 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2017–18 2019–20 2021–22 2023–24 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 6 Phase 7 Phase 8 Phase 9 48 4.4 Children in care SP data, extrapolated from 123 respondents, indicate that there were around 83,625 children in care as at 31 March 2024. This represents an increase over previous phases, rising from 65,125 in Phase 3 (2011–12). The rate of increase has slowed in recent phases, with Phase 7 (2019–20) marking the point at which numbers stabilised. Between Phases 8 and 9, the most recent phases, there was a 2% in