Serious child harm cases in England rose by 20% during pandemic

Abuse more likely to have gone unseen behind closed doors during lockdowns, say authorities

Serious child harm cases reported by councils in England rose by nearly 20% during the first year of the pandemic, including a 19% rise in child death notifications, according to latest official statistics.

There were 536 serious incident reports in England during 2020/21, up 87 (19%) from 449 in 2019/20, and an increase of 41% on the number of incidents recorded five years ago. Children aged under one accounted for 36% of notifications last year.