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Safeguarding context · Local authority

Merthyr Tydfil: the safeguarding context

  • 26 schools and colleges
  • Wales
  • Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board

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

What children's services and the police record across Merthyr Tydfil, the local safeguarding arrangements, and the 26 open schools and colleges in the Department for Education register for Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Everything here describes the area. None of it rates a school or college.

First finding · Harm and risk outside the home (ROTH) across Merthyr Tydfil

Across Merthyr Tydfil, children's services recorded 126 children where child exploitation was a factor in 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025, the latest year published), 102.5 per 10,000 children, higher than across Wales (26.1).

This describes what children's services record for the whole authority, never a school, a college or any child, and a higher rate can reflect better identification and recording as easily as more harm.

See the figures behind it

Order the report for a school or college in Merthyr Tydfil

£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.

Choose a school or college Read the sample

Local safeguarding arrangements

Merthyr Tydfil is covered by Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board, shared with Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taf.

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

What is recorded across Merthyr Tydfil

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: children's services figures are compared with Wales, never England. Counts below three are shown as fewer than 3.

What children's services record, 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025), the latest year published

The Welsh Government's children's safeguarding measures for Merthyr Tydfil: the child protection register, child exploitation and children going missing, each as a rate per 10,000 children aged under 18 beside the rate across Wales, with the count. Some measures count children and some count reports. The whole authority, never a school, college or setting.

Measure Merthyr Tydfil Wales Compared
Children on the child protection register at 31 March 54.5 per 10,000 children (67 children) 44.9 Higher
Children added to the child protection register during the year 74.0 per 10,000 children (91 children) 64.7 Higher
Children reported where child exploitation was a factor 102.5 per 10,000 children (126 children) 26.1 Higher
Reports of child exploitation where the primary factor was criminal exploitation 14.6 per 10,000 children (18 reports) 19.1 Lower
Reports of child exploitation where the primary factor was sexual exploitation 81.4 per 10,000 children (100 reports) 16.9 Higher
Reports of child exploitation where the primary factor was trafficking 6.5 per 10,000 children (8 reports) 2.8 Higher
Children who went missing during the year 23.6 per 10,000 children (29 children) 33.9 Lower

Welsh Government, children's safeguarding measures by local authority, 2024-25; rates per 10,000 children aged under 18 from the ONS mid-2025 population estimates.

Young people's health and youth justice

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

Measure Period Merthyr Tydfil Wales Compared
First-time entrants to the youth justice system, ages 10 to 17 Year ending December 2024 174.7 per 100,000 aged 10 to 17 130.9 Similar
Children under 16 in relative low income families 2024/25 24.2% of children under 16 21.2% Higher

Ministry of Justice and Youth Justice Board, Youth justice statistics, first-time entrants by local authority of residence, year ending December 2024, compared with Wales by a 95% confidence interval (Byar's method); Public Health Wales, Public Health Outcomes Framework for Wales, children living in poverty, 2024/25, published without counts or confidence limits, so within a tenth of the Wales figure reads as similar.

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

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

Measure South Wales England and Wales Compared
Domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes recorded by the police 25 per 1,000 people 21.8 Higher
Domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police 12.6 per 1,000 people 13.2 Similar
Cases discussed at multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) 93.7 per 10,000 adult women 50.2 Higher

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 Merthyr Tydfil

Which regional safeguarding board covers Merthyr Tydfil?

Merthyr Tydfil is covered by Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board, which it shares with Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taf. Its local arrangements, procedures and training are published at https://www.cwmtafmorgannwgsafeguardingboard.co.uk/En/Home.aspx.

How do I report a concern about a child in Merthyr Tydfil?

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise the council's page for reporting a concern about a child is https://www.cwmtafmorgannwgsafeguardingboard.co.uk/En/ReportaConcern/ReportaConcern.aspx. Staff in a school or college should follow their own procedure and tell the designated safeguarding person.

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

Across Merthyr Tydfil, children's services recorded 126 children where child exploitation was a factor in 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025, the latest year published), 102.5 per 10,000 children, higher than across Wales (26.1). These figures describe the whole authority, never any school, college or child, and a higher rate can reflect better identification and recording as easily as more harm.

Schools and colleges in Merthyr Tydfil

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.

Sixth forms and colleges (1)

Other schools and colleges (25)

£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

Order a report Read the sample

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