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Safeguarding context · Local authority

County Durham: the safeguarding context

  • 279 schools and colleges
  • England
  • Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership

Evidence of the local risks around every school and college in County Durham, ready for your policy, your staff and your inspector.

What children's services, the health service and the police record across County Durham, the local safeguarding arrangements, and the 279 open schools and colleges in the Department for Education register for County Durham, England. Everything here describes the area. None of it rates a school or college.

£149 for 12 months

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First finding · Harm and risk outside the home (ROTH) across County Durham

Across County Durham, children's social care recorded child sexual exploitation, going missing and trafficking in a higher share of assessments than across England.

This describes what social workers record for the whole authority, never a school, a college or any child, and a higher share can reflect better identification as easily as more harm.

See the figures behind it

Order the report for a school or college in County Durham

£149 per school, college or campus for 12 months, the same however many an order holds. Choose it from the list below and order from its page. What's included.

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Local safeguarding arrangements

County Durham is covered by Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Links checked 1 November 2026.

What is recorded across County Durham

Published figures for the whole authority, or the police force area it sits in, beside the national figure named in each table where one is published. Counts below three are shown as fewer than 3.

What children's services record, year to 31 March 2025, the latest year published

Children in need, child protection plans and the factors social workers identified at assessment across County Durham. The whole authority, never a school, college or setting.

Measure County Durham England Compared
Children in need at 31 March 439.6 per 10,000 children (4,415 children) 330.3 Higher
Children on child protection plans at 31 March 48.7 per 10,000 children (489 children) 40.6 Higher
Child criminal exploitation 3.2% of assessments 3.2% Similar
Child sexual exploitation 2.8% of assessments 2.4% Higher
Gangs 1.8% of assessments 1.7% Similar
Going missing 4.1% of assessments 3.3% Higher
Trafficking 0.5% of assessments 0.4% Higher
Sexual abuse by another child 1.5% of assessments 2.5% Lower
Physical abuse by another child 2.5% of assessments 3% Lower
Domestic abuse, the child as victim 14.1% of assessments 11.3% Higher
Domestic abuse, a parent or carer as victim 45% of assessments 31.7% Higher
Self-harm 7.3% of assessments 5% Higher
The child's mental health 21.4% of assessments 17.6% Higher
Drug misuse by the child 5.4% of assessments 4.8% Higher
Alcohol misuse by the child 3.1% of assessments 2.1% Higher
Socially unacceptable behaviour 7.8% of assessments 7% Higher
Neglect 22% of assessments 17.6% Higher
Emotional abuse 18.1% of assessments 19% Similar

Department for Education, Children in need, reporting year 2025.

Young people's health and youth justice

Published figures for County Durham against England; higher or lower is the publisher's own significance test.

Measure Period County Durham England Compared
Hospital admissions for self-harm, ages 10 to 24 2023/24 206.2 per 100,000, age-standardised 266.6 Lower
Hospital admissions for violence, including sexual violence, all ages 2022/23 - 24/25 36.6 per 100,000, age-standardised 31.9 Higher
First-time entrants to the youth justice system, ages 10 to 17 2025 158.7 per 100,000 aged 10 to 17 127.1 Similar
Hospital admissions for substance misuse, ages 15 to 24 2022/23 - 24/25 30.9 per 100,000, age-standardised 39 Similar
Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions, under 18 2021/22 - 23/24 49.7 per 100,000 under 18 22.6 Higher
16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training, or not known 2025/26 5.4% of 16 and 17 year olds 5.8% Similar
Children under 16 in relative low income families 2024/25 26% of children under 16 19.8% Higher

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Fingertips public health profiles.

Domestic abuse, year ending March 2025, the latest year published

Police-recorded domestic abuse and MARAC cases for the Durham police force area, the force area the authority sits in.

Measure Durham England and Wales Compared
Domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes recorded by the police 29.6 per 1,000 people 21.8 Higher
Domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police 15.2 per 1,000 people 13.2 Higher
Cases discussed at multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) 47.5 per 10,000 adult women 50.2 Similar

Office for National Statistics, Domestic abuse in England and Wales data tool.

Each school's or college's report sets these figures out chapter by chapter, beside the picture around its own site, and writes what they mean into the policy, the staff briefing and the report to governors, trustees or the proprietor.

Questions about safeguarding in County Durham

Which safeguarding partnership covers County Durham?

County Durham is covered by Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership. Its procedures, threshold guidance and training are published at https://www.durham-scp.org.uk.

How do I report a concern about a child in County Durham?

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise the council's page for reporting a concern about a child is http://www.durham.gov.uk/childprotection. Staff in a school or college should follow their own procedure and tell the designated safeguarding lead.

What do children's services record about harm and risk outside the home (ROTH) in County Durham?

Across County Durham, children's social care recorded child sexual exploitation, going missing and trafficking in a higher share of assessments than across England. These figures describe the whole authority, never any school, college or child, and a higher share can reflect better identification as easily as more harm.

Schools and colleges in County Durham

Each page describes the context around that school or college: the local arrangements, the places children and young people pass and gather, and the neighbourhood around each site. Open a page to order its report.

Nursery schools (10)

Primary (208)

Secondary (30)

Sixth forms and colleges (5)

Other schools and colleges (26)

Colleges with a campus in County Durham

College campuses in County Durham, whichever authority their college is registered in. Each campus page reads the context against County Durham, where the campus is.

Nurseries, pre-schools and clubs in County Durham

113 registered nurseries, pre-schools and out-of-school clubs on non-domestic premises in County Durham have their own pages, each describing the safeguarding context around the setting and the same authority figures as above. See every setting in County Durham.

£149 for 12 months

Evidence of the local risks around your school, college, nursery or club

The public evidence about the area around your school, college, nursery or club, written into your safeguarding policy, staff briefing and board report for the year ahead. We email you when it is ready, usually within an hour of payment.

  • The report
  • The staff briefing and slides
  • The evidence pack
  • The dashboard for the year

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Get Information about Schools, Department for Education.