Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people under the age of 18 received assessments from local authorities of their needs as carers in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Information on how many people, under the age of 18, who received assessments from local authorities of their needs as carers is not held centrally by the department.

Information on factors identified at the end of assessment is collected in the annual children in need census, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/children-in-need-census.

Factors identified at the end of assessment are factors which social workers record as relevant when a child is assessed as being in need of children’s social care services.

The number of episodes of need, where being a young carer was identified as a factor at the end of assessment, is published in the annual characteristic of children in need. This data covers local authorities in England and is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d345b9cc-aa39-4d21-a164-206a3e90c05c

Further information on the young carer assessment factor is included in the additional guide on the factors identified at the end of assessment. This information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/977581/CIN_Additional_guide_on_the_factors_identified_at_the_end_of_assessment.pdf.