The number of children requiring social service care in Brent rose by a third last year, bucking the national trend.
Figures from the department for education have revealed the number of children across England classed as being 'in need' as of March 31 last year.
A child is in need if, without intervention from the authorities, they are unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or if their health or development will be significantly impaired.
In Brent, 1,889 children met this criteria on March 31 2015, an increase of 33.7% compared to the 1,413 who met the criteria on the same day in 2014.
This increase is significant because it goes completely contrary to the trend across England which showed a 1.7% decrease in the number of children needing social service attention over the same period.
However, despite this big increase in social service care, the number of children needing care in Brent remains comparatively low when weighted against the number of children living in the county.
The 1,889 figure for 2015 is the equivalent of 255 for every 10,000 children compared to a national figure of 337 per 10,000.
Across the whole of England the number of children deemed to be in need of local authority care has dropped from 397,600 in March 2014 to 390,960 in March 2015.
Social service intervention in west London
| Borough | March 31, 2015 | Rate per 10,000 | % change on 2014 |
| Brent | 1,889 | 255 | 33.7% |
| Ealing | 2,894 | 361 | 11.6% |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | 1,559 | 462 | 6.9% |
| Westminster | 2,148 | 528 | 6.5% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 1,011 | 364 | 0.9% |
| Harrow | 1,594 | 281 | -7.0% |
| Hounslow | 1,681 | 273 | -7.7% |
| Hillingdon | 2,124 | 307 | -9.0% |
