The Metropolitan Police Service leadership team has shown
commitment to improving its service to vulnerable children, but
this now needs to lead to better outcomes, a report by Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and fire and Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) into the force’s child protection capability
warns today.
Following our critical report in 2016, inspectors were encouraged
to see that the Metropolitan Police Service has continued to make
improvements to how it protects children in some important areas.
However, outcomes for children at risk of harm have not
consistently improved. The force now needs to focus its efforts
on children who are at risk of harm today, and not simply wait
for improvements to structures and processes to filter down to
the frontline.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said:
“Since our 2016 inspection, the Met has taken some significant
steps to improve its safeguarding practice for vulnerable
children. This has resulted in better and more effective
oversight of child protection practices across the force, but
oversight isn’t everything. We remain concerned about the current
service the Met provides, given the extreme vulnerability of many
of the children who come into contact with the force.
“There has not been enough improvement to the actual protection
provided to all children. We also have significant concerns about
the Met’s approach to tackling online child abuse and
exploitation. Limited capacity in specialist teams, backlogs and
resourcing pressures have all led to the force being overwhelmed
by cases and not able to provide the service victims need and
deserve. Although we recognise that the increase in online
exploitation of children is a national problem, we have made a
further recommendation for the Met to address in this area.
“The Met’s better understanding of child protection cases across
London must now result in quicker, more significant and more
sustained improvements in the experiences of children who need
help and protection.”
We will revisit the Metropolitan Police Service within a year to
assess progress. This will allow the force to complete its major
restructure and to continue work against our previous
recommendations.
Notes
- HMICFRS
is inspecting the child
protection work of every police force in England and Wales.
The reports provide information for the police, the police and
crime commissioner and the public on how well children are
protected and their needs are met, and to secure improvements
for the future.
- Under the
National Child Protection Inspection (NCPI) programme, HMICFRS
will assess how effectively each force in England and Wales
safeguards children and young people at risk, make
recommendations to forces for improving child protection
practice, highlight effective practice in child protection work
and drive improvements in forces’ child protection practice.
- In 2016, Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) published a highly critical report of the
Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS’s) child protection practices.
This included a series of recommendations aimed at improving the
service provided to children in the London area.
- Because of the
severity of the failings we found in 2016, the Home Secretary
commissioned us to publish quarterly reports over the course of
2017, setting out the progress made by the MPS in improving its
practices. In the fourth of these reports (published February
2018), we concluded that progress had been made in some important
areas – but this had not translated into consistently good
outcomes for children in London. We therefore committed to
further reinspection activity in 2018.
- Follow up
activity by HMICFRS is an integral part of the NCPI programme. It
allows inspectors to assess the progress each force is making in
its work to improve services for the safety and protection of
children.
