Female care leavers aged 18-25 who are pregnant, have become pregnant and or have children?

For the purposes of this request:

'Care leaver' means a person who falls within the definition of an eligible, relevant, former relevant, or qualifying care leaver under the Children Act 1989 (as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017).



Please include all four categories in your response, or, where this is not possible, specify which categories your figures cover.

Please provide figures for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2026 if available), rather than calendar year 2025, to align with the reporting periods used in your Children Looked



After and Children in Need returns to the Department for Education.

I am requesting anonymised, aggregate statistical data only, and not information relating to identifiable individuals. Where any figure is between 1 and 4, please provide this as '<5' in line with your standard small-numbers disclosure policy, rather than withholding the figure entirely.

Where possible, please provide your response in an electronic, machine-readable format (e.g. Excel or CSV), in accordance with section 11 of the Act.



Does your local authority hold recorded data in relation to the number of female care leavers (as defined above) aged 18-25 who are pregnant, have become pregnant and/or have children?

Yes

No

If yes to Question 1, or if this information is held in a different format -

1a. For each of the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years, how many female care leavers aged 18-25 were recorded as pregnant at any point during that year?

Of these -

i. How many female care leavers aged 18-25 were subject to section 47 enquiries in relation to their child before birth:

ii. How many female care leavers aged 18-25 were subject to section 47 enquiries in relation to their child after birth:

 

Does your local authority hold recorded data in relation to the number of pre-birth assessments completed for female care leavers who are pregnant aged 18-25?

Yes

No

If yes to Question 2, or if this information is held in a different format -

2a. For each of the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years, please provide the following breakdown for female care leavers aged 18-25:

i. The total number of pre-birth assessments completed.

ii. Of these, how many resulted in a Section 47 child protection enquiry?

iii. Of these, how many resulted in a Child Protection Plan being initiated?

iv. Of these, how many resulted in pre-birth care proceedings being issued under Section 31 of the Children Act 1989?

v. Of these, how many resulted in the child being removed from the mother's care within 7 days of birth?

vi. Of these, how many resulted in no further statutory intervention beyond the pre-birth assessment?

 

Does your local authority have a routine referral process to children's services for care-experienced women during pregnancy?

Yes

No

 

3a. Please provide a link or attachment to a copy of your local authority's pre-birth assessment protocol.

1. Yes

This information is for all eligibility categories (eligible, relevant, former relevant, or qualifying), as any further analysis would fall within a threshold of risk of identification.

2.We have information on assessments that took place for the mentioned cohort prior to birth, however we do not have a specific “pre birth assessment” that is completed as part of the leaving care process, therefore an accurate answer cannot be provided.

3. https://lincolnshirechildcare.trixonline.co.uk/chapter/parent-and-child-foster-care placement?search=pre%20birth