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Safeguarding context · Local authority

Merton: the safeguarding context

  • 74 schools and colleges
  • England
  • Merton Safeguarding Children Partnership

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

What children's services, the health service and the police record across Merton, the local safeguarding arrangements, and the 74 open schools and colleges in the Department for Education register for Merton, England. Everything here describes the area. None of it rates a school or college.

£149 for 12 months

Choose a school or college Read the sample

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

Across Merton, children's social care recorded child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse by another child 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 Merton

£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

Merton is covered by Merton Safeguarding Children Partnership.

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

What is recorded across Merton

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 Merton. The whole authority, never a school, college or setting.

Measure Merton England Compared
Children in need at 31 March 274.8 per 10,000 children (1,297 children) 330.3 Lower
Children on child protection plans at 31 March 33.3 per 10,000 children (157 children) 40.6 Lower
Child criminal exploitation 2.3% of assessments 3.2% Lower
Child sexual exploitation 6.6% of assessments 2.4% Higher
Gangs 1% of assessments 1.7% Lower
Going missing 2.1% of assessments 3.3% Lower
Trafficking not published 0.4% Not compared
Sexual abuse by another child 4.3% of assessments 2.5% Higher
Physical abuse by another child 2.4% of assessments 3% Lower
Domestic abuse, the child as victim 14.5% of assessments 11.3% Higher
Domestic abuse, a parent or carer as victim 25.5% of assessments 31.7% Lower
Self-harm 6.5% of assessments 5% Higher
The child's mental health 13.9% of assessments 17.6% Lower
Drug misuse by the child 4.1% of assessments 4.8% Lower
Alcohol misuse by the child 3% of assessments 2.1% Higher
Socially unacceptable behaviour 9% of assessments 7% Higher
Neglect 17.2% of assessments 17.6% Similar
Emotional abuse 18.9% of assessments 19% Similar

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

Young people's health and youth justice

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

Measure Period Merton England Compared
Hospital admissions for self-harm, ages 10 to 24 2023/24 151.6 per 100,000, age-standardised 266.6 Lower
Hospital admissions for violence, including sexual violence, all ages 2022/23 - 24/25 22.5 per 100,000, age-standardised 31.9 Lower
First-time entrants to the youth justice system, ages 10 to 17 2025 123.8 per 100,000 aged 10 to 17 127.1 Similar
Hospital admissions for substance misuse, ages 15 to 24 2022/23 - 24/25 17.4 per 100,000, age-standardised 39 Lower
Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions, under 18 2021/22 - 23/24 12 per 100,000 under 18 22.6 Lower
16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training, or not known 2025/26 2.1% of 16 and 17 year olds 5.8% Lower
Children under 16 in relative low income families 2024/25 11.6% of children under 16 19.8% Lower

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 Metropolitan Police area, the force area the authority sits in.

Measure Metropolitan Police England and Wales Compared
Domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes recorded by the police 17.1 per 1,000 people 21.8 Lower
Domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police 9.7 per 1,000 people 13.2 Lower
Cases discussed at multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) 48.2 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 Merton

Which safeguarding partnership covers Merton?

Merton is covered by Merton Safeguarding Children Partnership. Its procedures, threshold guidance and training are published at https://www.mertonscp.org.uk/.

How do I report a concern about a child in Merton?

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. Otherwise the council's page for reporting a concern about a child is http://www.merton.gov.uk/health-social-care/children-family-health-social-care/lscb/worriedaboutachild.htm. 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 Merton?

Across Merton, children's social care recorded child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse by another child 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 Merton

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.

Primary (43)

Secondary (9)

Other schools and colleges (22)

Colleges and sixth forms with a campus in Merton

Colleges and sixth forms with a site in Merton, whichever authority their college is registered in. Each campus page reads the context against Merton, where the campus is.

Nurseries, pre-schools and clubs in Merton

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

£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.