‘Spike in demand’ for children’s social care in Barnsley when lockdowns ended

Bob Dyson, independent chair of Barnsley safeguarding children‘s board, presented the Barnsley Safeguarding Children Partnership annual report to Barnsley cabinet today (September 22).

Mr Dyson told a meeting of the council’s cabinet today that when lockdowns ended, the service saw “increased activity coming into children’s social care”.

“When those children who perhaps weren’t on the radar before suddenly become visible through agencies and schools, and therefore, children’s social care undoubtedly and other agencies have seen a spike in the demand, and that continues today” Mr Dyson said.

He added that a “big worry” throughout the pandemic was that children were not “being seen”, making it “hard to know what’s happening in houses when children are inside”.

The report stated that five sudden unexpected deaths in infancy were reported in 2020, and that two of those are now subject to a review to ensure that lessons are learned.

“I’m quite satisfied as an independent person that everybody has been given all of those messages that you would expect to get about safe sleeping,” added Mr Dyson.