Northamptonshire Police has not made necessary improvements to
its child protection practice and procedure in the past 12
months, according to a new report.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) previously inspected the force’s child
protection capabilities in March 2018, highlighting a range of
problems.
Today’s National Child Protection Post-Inspection Review
of Northamptonshire Police found that many of those
problems had not yet been resolved. Particular problems
identified in the 2019 report included:
-
inconsistent supervision of investigations;
-
ineffective partner organisations (for example, local authorities
who are responsible for providing alternative accommodation);
-
substantial delays and backlogs (for example, failing to record
information about missing children promptly and a backlog in
investigating electronic devices); and
-
concerning decisions regarding the management of registered sex
offenders (for example, sending warning letters to offenders who
breach their conditions as a matter of course, without proper
investigation of the causes of the breach).
HMICFRS examined 21 child protection case files as part of the
inspection. None of these cases were assessed as ‘good’ by
the Inspectorate (11 were rated as ‘inadequate’).
However, there have been some improvements since the previous
inspection. There has been a “significant decrease” in the
number of outstanding visits to registered sex offenders.
The Inspectorate also found that Northamptonshire Police has
improved its understanding of the reasons children go missing.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoë Billingham
said:
“Child protection work is one of the most important duties of a
police service. It is crucial that forces have in place
adequate means of safeguarding and protecting vulnerable and
at-risk children. Other partners, like local authorities also
have a vital role to play in partnership with the police. It is
notable that in the recent past other public agencies in
Northamptonshire have been found to be failing the communities
they serve.
“Our 2018 inspection should have been an urgent wake-up
call. But too frequently Northamptonshire’s most vulnerable
children are still being poorly served by those who should
protect them.
“We are especially concerned to see a continuing problem with
delays and backlogs, particularly with online
investigations. We identified many of these issues during
our previous inspection and so it is disappointing to see them
still.
“The force is working hard to address a legacy of long term
underfunding and some areas of improvement are evident. For
example, since our last inspection, the force has made a real
effort to raise awareness about child protection matters through
an internal communications campaign. It is investing in
increasing the number of police officers and staff working in the
vitally important area of child protection. I hope to see further
improvements in the near future.”
As a result of the inspection, HMICFRS has issued another list of
recommendations for improvement. It will carry out a
re-inspection of the force within the next 12 months.
