MPS makes ‘significant strides’ in tackling child exploitation, but further changes needed, says inspectorate

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said that through a renewed focus on child exploitation, its links to missing children and the language officers and staff use, the service has made improvements since its previous inspection.

Three causes of concern identified in 2023 have been closed, which the MPS says recognises “the significant strides” it has made in improving its approach to safeguarding children and tackling the risks posed by exploitation.

Improvements made by the MPS include:

• How it assesses and investigates the risk to missing children and crimes involving exploited children;
• Its supervision of cases, making sure the child is the focus of investigations and better communication with child victims;
• Ensuring its audit processes identify victim-blaming language and increased activity to help eradicate it; and
• Better oversight arrangements for its response to missing children and use of innovative techniques to help find them more quickly.

However, HMICFRS said that the service still has more work to do to improve further in these areas and to provide a consistently good service.

For example, inspectors described several examples where cases of missing children were graded incorrectly. In some cases, the service didn’t do enough, or act quickly enough, to find children. The inspectorate also said that there were too many missed opportunities to follow lines of enquiry to trace offenders.

HMICFRS found that the service still has problems in complying with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime and rarely carries out initial victim needs assessments. This can have a negative effect on the service a victim receives throughout the criminal justice system.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman said: “Children who go missing from home, or are at risk of exploitation, are some of the most vulnerable in society. Public services including the police have a shared responsibility to look for the warning signs, be alert to the risks and act quickly to protect children.

“But when we inspected the Metropolitan Police Service in 2023, it wasn’t doing enough when children were suffering from, or at risk of, exploitation. We issued three causes of concern.

“I am therefore pleased to report that the senior leadership response to the issues we raised has been positive, and we have closed the causes of concern. The decision by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, Sir Andy Cooke, to return the service to our default phase of monitoring, was supported by these closures.

“The service’s children’s strategy now sets out the Commissioner’s ambition to adopt a ‘child first’ approach. This aims to make sure officers and staff recognise that children are different to adults and should be treated differently because they have different needs and vulnerabilities.

“However, the service still has more work to do to improve further and to provide a consistently good service. We will continue to closely monitor its progress.”

Senior officers at the MPS have welcomed the positive findings in the report and emphasised that their work to safeguard children will continue to evolve and improve, ensuring that no child is left at risk.

The report highlights improvements in response times, better training, and increased resources, all of which contribute to “a more robust and compassionate approach to protecting vulnerable children,” the MPS said.

Commander Kevin Southworth, the MPS’s lead for Public Protection, said: “We are proud of the progress we have made since the last inspection, but we recognise there is always more to do. Our commitment to safeguarding children is unwavering, and we are investing heavily in resources and training to ensure that officers at every level understand the complexities of child exploitation.

“We’ve made real progress, which is testament to our hard working and dedicated officers and staff working in one of the most complex and demanding areas in policing. We won’t stop here and are committed to further building on this success and continuing to earn the trust of the communities we serve.”

A key development in the MPS’s approach to child safeguarding was the launch of its new Children Strategy in September 2024. This five-year plan aims to transform the way the force keeps children safe from crime, with a focus on ensuring that officers take a ‘Child First’ approach. As part of this strategy, all officers will receive training on childhood vulnerability and adultification bias, equipping them to better understand and address the specific needs and risks faced by children.

So far, the force has:

• Trained 11,500 officers in the identification of child exploitation;
• Doubled the number children reported missing with exploitation concerns being graded as high-risk;
• Increased the volume of child exploitation concerns being identified by officers and then investigated by specialist teams by 50 per cent; and
• Added 64 additional posts to Basic Command Unit multi agency safeguarding hubs referrals teams to support increased information sharing and decision making, increasing capacity by 75 per cent.

“The Met is also committed to improving relationships between officers and children in London, working more effectively in partnership with agencies whose primary responsibility is child protection,” the force said.

“The strategy includes expanding child exploitation teams with an additional 72 officers, integrating trained school officers into neighbourhood teams increasing capacity by 75 per cent, and establishing a new Public Protection Referrals desk to better identify children experiencing domestic abuse and facilitate a multi-agency response.

“These initiatives build on the Met’s ongoing progress in strengthening its safeguarding response and demonstrate a clear commitment to transforming its approach to child protection.”