10,000 children taken into care: Numbers have doubled in the past four years

• Cafcass dealt with 10,199 cases between April 2011 and March 2012
• It is the first time the body has dealt with more than 10,000 cases in a year
• Family Rights Group warns care system is ‘struggling to cope’

The number of children taken into care has hit a record 10,000 in one year.

Since the 2007 killing of Baby P, there has been a huge surge in the number of youngsters being removed from their families by social workers.

The children