The number of abused and neglected children in Bradford being placed on a child protection plan has gone up by almost a quarter in the last 12 months.

According to figures from the Department for Education, there are 646 youngsters on protection plans, which are put in place when there is serious risk to a child’s health.

The most common reason was emotional abuse, which accounted for 303 or 47 per cent of cases.

A further 63 were for sexual abuse, 42 were for physical abuse and 238 were for neglect.

For every 1,000 youngsters aged under 18 in Bradford, five were on a protection plan last year.

There were 23 per cent more child protection plans implemented in 2016/17 in Bradford compared to the year before, and across England the number increased by five per cent, representing 3,100 children.

Across Yorkshire and the Humber, 6,420 child protection plans were implemented between April 2016 and March 2017, a rate of six for every 1,000 children.

The rate in Bradford was lower than that for the whole of England, where there were six child protection plans for every 1,000 children, with 66,410 children across the country receiving support from local authorities following neglect or abuse.

Michael Jameson, Bradford Council’s Strategic Director for Children’s Services, said: “Like all councils in the region and in the country as a whole, Bradford is seeing increasing numbers of children needing help from social services.

“There is no clear evidence to show why this increase is happening, but the link between rising levels of poverty and referrals to social care has been firmly established by national research.

“Here in Bradford we have acknowledged this rising demand and made extra money available to recruit more social workers to try to tackle it.”

The rise in the number of youngsters requiring help reflects a growing trend across the countr.

Now social workers are calling for a renewed focus from the government to tackle the increasing number of children in need.

Maris Stratulis, the England manager for the British Association of Social Workers, said: “The statistics reflect the increasing demand on services and the complexity of need of some of the most vulnerable children in this country.

“Hardworking, dedicated social workers continue to make a difference every day to the lives of many.

“However, the government and inspection bodies, including Ofsted, need to acknowledge the ever-increasing demand on over-stretched children’s services, and the impact this has on services being delivered.”

Child protection plans, enforced under Section 47 of the Children Act, are put in place after a child is taken into police protection or put under an emergency protection order, or if there is a strong suspicion that a child will suffer significant harm.

While some children may have more than one plan implemented over the course of a year, on a single day, March 31, 2017, there were 559 individual children being supported by the local authority in Bradford following abuse or neglect.

On the same day, more than 50,000 children in England were receiving the same support.

A spokeswoman for the NSPCC added: “The increase in the number of children on child protection plans could reflect increased awareness and confidence in taking action.

“And it’s not just professionals who work with children who understand this.

“Record numbers of people contacted the NSPCC helpline last year worried about a child, including a 200 per cent increase in the last seven years of calls about emotional abuse

“However, the full scale of the problem could be much greater.

“It is vital we understand the true nature and scale of child abuse and neglect in the UK so we can collectively tackle the fundamental causes.

“We are urging the Government to commission a, nationwide prevalence study on child abuse and neglect, and sooner rather than later.”