Child protection by county police needs ‘urgent changes’ says HM inspector
DERBYSHIRE Constabulary is not effectively safeguarding children and urgent changes are needed, a new report has found.
This includes the force’s approach to missing children, their time in police detention, ensuring staff understand their responsibilities to vulnerable children and making child protection a higher priority in “operational activity”.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said Derbyshire Constabulary’s senior leaders have recognised that changes are needed, and they are now reviewing their safeguarding arrangements.
The inspectorate said it had several concerns about Derbyshire Constabulary’s child protection arrangements, including that there is:
Little evidence of effective multi-agency activity to safeguard children, with examples of poor risk assessments and therefore inconsistent information sharing with other organisations A disjointed approach to protecting vulnerable children at risk of being exploited by county lines gangs; and a confused response to missing children, such as not recording when children go missing from care homes, and therefore not looking for them.
During the inspection, the inspectorate examined 79 cases where children had been at risk. It assessed child protection practice as good in 20 cases, as requiring improvement in 31 cases, and as inadequate in 28 cases. The report stated: “This shows that the force needs to do more to give a consistently good service for all children.”
Specific areas for improvement included:
Ensuring all staff understand their main responsibilities towards vulnerable children
Speaking to children, particularly very young ones, recording their behaviour and demeanour, and making sure their concerns and views are heard and inform decisions for their welfare
Considering the wider risks to children when they are missing or living in homes where domestic abuse features, to enhance protective planning
Making appropriate referrals to children’s social care and early help practitioners
Ensuring that consideration is given to cumulative and repeat low-level risk
Recognising that children missing from care homes are particularly vulnerable
Supervising investigations more consistently, to make sure opportunities are pursued and cases are not unnecessarily delayed
Ensuring that investigations where children are perpetrators and victims are properly conducted before making disposal decisions
Ensuring children aren’t inappropriately kept in police detention, and that they aren’t kept in police stations as a place of safety for prolonged periods
Supervising the management of registered sex offenders so that risk is correctly identified and mitigated by effective referrals and enforcement.
The report added: “There is an urgent need for the constabulary to implement changes to improve its child protection arrangements and practices.
“This should be supported with a clear structure for oversight and scrutiny for all aspects of child protection activity that can also monitor the impact of the changes it makes. We found that the officers and staff who manage demanding child abuse investigations are committed and dedicated.
“However, we are concerned about the variability of both frontline and specialist officers’ knowledge and understanding of what makes child protection practice effective. We have therefore made a series of recommendations. These will help improve outcomes for children if the constabulary acts on them.”
These include ensuring that everyone is aware of safeguarding children, the force reviews its missing persons arrangements and that there is better record keeping of interviews with children.
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Roy Wilsher, said: “Derbyshire Constabulary is not effectively safeguarding children and it urgently needs to improve its child protection arrangements. The force’s new senior leadership team recognise that these changes are needed.
“There is much more work to do to provide better outcomes for vulnerable children in Derbyshire – from improving how the force protects children at risk of exploitation, to recognising that children missing from care homes are particularly vulnerable.
“We have made several recommendations which will help improve outcomes for children if Derbyshire Constabulary acts on them. We will continue to work closely with the force to monitor its progress.”