But the same figure for North Yorkshire has risen by eight percent and now tops 500.
The Government released the figures as it prepares to unveil what it calls the biggest overhaul in a generation to children’s social care support system.
In 2020, York had 263 children in care. The figure rose to 279 in 2021 and 276 in 2022, but has since dropped and now stands at 243.
North Yorkshire had 443 children in care in 2020. But though the figure dropped slightly in 2021, it has risen since and now stands at 501 having risen by 38 since 2023 alone.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, said: “Our care system has suffered from years of drift and neglect. It’s bankrupting councils, letting families down, and above all, leaving too many children feeling forgotten, powerless and invisible.
“We want to break down the barriers to opportunity and end the cycle of crisis through ambitious reforms to give vulnerable children the best life chances – because none of us thrive until all of us do.
“We will crack down on care providers making excessive profit, tackle unregistered and unsafe provision and ensure earlier intervention to keep families together and help children to thrive.”
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “Every child deserves to grow up safe, happy, healthy and engaged in their communities and in their education.
“Children are paying the price of a broken social care system that allows profits over protection. They are enduring things no child should ever have to: living in isolation in illegal children’s homes, often at enormous cost, deprived of their liberty without due process, often surrounded by security guards instead of receiving love and care.
“Children in the social care system today are living week to week in limbo. They need action without delay, not plans or strategies, so I welcome the urgency with which this government is setting out plans to tackle some of the most entrenched challenges. There must be no limits on our ambition for these children and I will look forward to working closely with ministers to push for radical reform.”
