North Yorkshire Police has been criticised for failings in child protection.
The standard of investigations in child protection cases is poor, including those involving missing children and child sexual exploitation, says a report published today (Tuesday).
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) also found that North Yorkshire Police doesn’t prioritise safeguarding and child protection highly enough.
HMICFRS said specific areas for the force to improve included:
- speaking to children, recording their behaviour and demeanour, listening to their concerns and views, and using that information to make decisions about their welfare;
- supervising investigations to make sure the force pursues opportunities and avoids delaying cases unnecessarily; and
- promptly sharing information with safeguarding partners.
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke said:
North Yorkshire Police’s senior leaders want to protect children and give them better outcomes, and we found some good examples of the force protecting children in need of help.
But in too many cases, practice is inconsistent. Officers don’t always share information quickly enough with safeguarding partners. We also found that supervisors don’t oversee investigations well enough, mainly because they lack the training, skills and experience.
The force knows it needs to do more to help its officers better understand how to safeguard children. We have made a series of recommendations which, if acted on, will help improve outcomes for children in North Yorkshire.
You can read the full report here.
What North Yorkshire Police say
Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police Lisa Winward said: “It is extremely disappointing that while the Inspectorate found examples of good practice during their inspection in November 2021, they also found a lack of consistency in our treatment of children across the cases that they examined.
“We fully accept the findings of the Inspectorate and I offer my deepest apologies to any child that we have let down or could have protected more effectively. We haven’t always got it right and we know that is not good enough for the children of North Yorkshire.
“We have been working at a pace to address the issues that were identified in the Inspectorate’s report. Our plan for improvement in our performance has already been submitted to the Inspectorate. We are tracking our plan and will publicly report on our progress.
“We welcome the recognition by the Inspectorate that our officers and staff, who manage child abuse investigations, are committed and dedicated despite working in difficult circumstances.
“I can assure all our communities that we absolutely recognise that protecting children is one of the most important things that we do. We are working to ensure that we have the right systems and processes in place to support our officers and staff to protect and safeguard every child.
“Doing the right thing for the children in our county requires us to work closely with our partners in health and across our councils. We thank our partners for their support in ensuring that we work seamlessly for the benefit of the children in North Yorkshire and the City of York.
“I encourage anyone with concerns about a child’s safety to report their concerns to North Yorkshire Police with full confidence that the matter will be dealt with effectively.”
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