Humberside Police needs to improve how vulnerable children are protected, says report

Humberside Police still needs to improve the way it protects vulnerable children.

That's the findings of a new report by the police watchdog today.

Inspectors found only a quarter of child protection cases were carried out to a good standard, with the rest either requiring improvement or found to be inadequate.

But the report found the force has made some improvements to the way it safeguards children most in need of help since it was last inspected back in 2016.

Matt Parr, HM Inspector of Constabulary, told Viking:

“Humberside Police recognises the need for improvements in how it protects children and appreciates the scale of the task ahead of them. I am encouraged by individual cases that show how the force, working along other agencies, can protect those children in most need of help. There is still work to do, however. Progress in some areas has been slow, due in part to the force changing its database last summer, and the problems it has encountered while officers and staff get used to a different way of recording and searching systems.

“The force still needs to be more consistent in providing the best outcomes for children. Only 26 percent of the cases we looked at were carried out to a good standard, with the rest graded as either requiring improvement or inadequate. This is a slight improvement on last year, but I am concerned with the pace of progress.

“Our inspection found that there is a real appetite for change in Humberside Police, but good intentions need to be backed up with decisive and timely action. We will be closely monitoring how the force responds to the recommendations from today’s report, and expect to see progress made.”

The report sets out that the force has made improvements in the way the force manages sex offenders; its assessment of risk and early referral and its recording and documentation of cases.

Detective Superintendent Matt Hutchinson from Humberside Police said,

“I’m pleased that HMIC have recognised the commitment we have made to make improvements in how we protect children. With a new leadership team in place, and the database system now settling in, there is a real appetite for change at all levels within the organisation.

“I am also pleased that they have acknowledged the improvements we’ve already made in important areas such as how we manage sex offenders, our triage processes in the Hub and how we assess risk, as well as our approach to early referral. We do have more to do and have already made progress in many other areas since the re-inspection in October 2017.

“For example, we’ve put huge investment into how we work with our partner agencies to share information, providing specialist training for staff and improving our recording and reporting systems so that we have better information to help with decisions on resources and priorities. We are also working on a full review of our processes in response to reports of Domestic Abuse and have allocated additional resources to reduce backlogs and to deliver an improved service to our communities.

“We will continue to work quickly and with momentum in this area to ensure the pace of improvement continues."