The number of children being referred to Thurrock’s children’s services department is on the rise, with more than a 30 per cent increase in the past 12 months.

The council’s performance report shows that on average there were 177 referrals during 2017-18 but 234 referrals in 2018-19. The borough’s information sharing group for safeguarding children, known as the Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub, also had 7,074 “contacts” up from 5,764 the previous year.

However, there were some improvements with the number of children requiring a protection plan – laying out how they can be kept safe – reducing from 271 in April 2018 to 162 in March 2019.

Details of the added pressures have been revealed just a week after the director of children’s services retired and the council’s management team appointed Roger Harris as the interim director – despite him already being corporate director of adults, housing and health.

The management team forced the change through after elected councillors voted against it over concerns that it meant reducing a role vital in protecting vulnerable children into essentially a part-time job.

At a council meeting when the change was discussed, the leader of the Labour group Jane Pothecary said: “I do not believe that placing responsibility for children’s social care, health, education, adult social care and housing on to one person’s shoulders is a responsible way to protect children, vulnerable adults or the homeless in this borough.”