NSPCC plea over child abuse and neglect referrals

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A charity helpline made almost 900 referrals about child abuse and neglect concerns to agencies in Scotland last year.

The NSPCC figures amount to an average of two referrals a day for physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

The most common reason for cases being escalated was neglect, which was cited in 272 of the 897.

The charity is encouraging everyone to help protect children from harm.

A breakdown of the Scottish referrals in 2021/22 also reveals 257 were linked to physical abuse and 177 to emotional abuse.

A further 176 were connected to sexual abuse while 15 were for sexual abuse online.

The figures are significantly lower than the previous year.

In 2020/21 the charity made 1,401 referrals about abuse and neglect - an average of almost four a day.

Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive officer, said: "As well as the Scottish government playing a leading role in this fight, we know that strong communities can help to keep children safe, with thousands of individual people playing their part and doing what's right."

Across the UK last year a total of 22,983 referrals were made to agencies.