Met ‘failure’ in 90pc of child protection cases
SCOTLAND YARD failed to handle properly 90 per cent of child protection cases reviewed by the police watchdog, it has emerged.
A year after the force was heavily criticised for its treatment of child sexual exploitation and rape cases, a report has found it is performing worse than 12 months ago.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services criticised the attitudes of officers dealing with missing children, while also finding delays of up to three days in responding to cases.
In its latest assessment, delivered last month, the watchdog also found that, in some cases, the Met failed to record the concerns of children or was not sufficiently proactive.
The damning report comes a week after the force announced it would review hundreds of rape and sexual abuse cases after two trials collapsed due to failure to disclose crucial evidence.
The inspectorate is providing quarterly child assessment reports on the request of Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, amid fears the Met may be sitting on a grooming scandal similar to that in Rotherham.
In its latest report, published last month, it found that the handling of more than nine in 10 cases were “inadequate or required improvement”. Its findings were based on a random sample of 135 cases, including possible child sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and missing children. It added that it found a “disappointing quality of investigations and outcomes”, with 18 cases sent back to the Met for further investigation.
Last year, 278 of 374, or 74 per cent of cases reviewed by the inspectorate, were deemed inadequate or requiring improvement, suggesting the force has failed to make significant progress.
A spokesman for the Met said: “Keeping London’s children and young people safe is a priority. In response to the findings of HMIC’S 2016 inspection, a comprehensive plan was initiated to improve our child protection services. We recognise the urgency of improving our services, but we know that delivering real and sustainable improvements will take time to achieve.”