Barnardos has issued a statement following the release of figures by Cafcass, the children's court advisory service, which show that the number of applications from local councils to take children into care in England has exceeded 10,000 for the first time.

Barnardo's Deputy Chief Executive, Jane Stacey, says:

“While the increase in the number of children being referred into care might seem alarming, I am pleased that decisions are being made more quickly to remove children from damaging situations.

“We must intervene early to support families but where parenting is still not good enough, urgent action must be taken to protect children from damaging situations. Care can and does improve the lives of vulnerable children. This is why it is essential that we ensure that there are more foster or adoptive parents available to provide them with a stable and loving home.”

The figures from Cafcass also reveal that there were a total of 886 applications in March 2012. Applications received between May 2011 to February 2012 this year have been the highest ever recorded by Cafcass for these individual months.