South Wales Police good at responding to children at risk, but needs to improve how it investigates exploitation
South Wales Police works well with safeguarding partners and is good at responding to children at risk of harm. But it needs to make further progress in how it investigates reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation, the police inspectorate has said.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded South Wales Police’s performance across five areas, assessing how well it safeguards children who are at risk. It found the force was ‘good’ in three areas and ‘adequate’ in two.
HMICFRS said that child protection is clearly a priority for the force. The force provides strong oversight of child protection performance and practice through its governance arrangements, and inspectors found evidence that this governance had a positive effect on outcomes for children.
The inspectorate said that the force has a wide range of training courses on child protection available for relevant personnel. This includes providing information to officers and staff about listening and speaking to children, how to recognise harmful childhood experiences, and the effects of childhood trauma. This helps them to recognise and report their concerns.
The force’s exploitation team works effectively with partners. HMICFRS said the force contributes to safety planning discussions at multi-agency child exploitation meetings with children’s social care, health, education and criminal justice partners, to agree measures to safeguard children. And it has good arrangements in local areas to meet its statutory responsibilities to safeguard children.
However, the inspectorate said that not all personnel investigating online child exploitation had sufficient training or guidance to help them understand what they should do. This means the force missed opportunities to trace offenders. For example, officers didn’t always seize digital devices or arrange for them to be examined.
HMICFRS also said that the force needs to improve how it records information about children’s ethnicity, and its response to the sudden and unexpected death of children.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said: “I am pleased with the performance of South Wales Police in safeguarding children at risk. Chief officers and senior leaders understand their statutory responsibilities to safeguard children. Governance arrangements provide robust oversight of child protection performance and practice. And the force makes sure it trains enough officers and staff to provide effective safeguarding services for children and their families.
“The force’s leaders encourage a child-centred policing culture. I was pleased to see this reflected in our case file review’s findings. The force offers a wide range of training courses related to child protection and their investigations are often child centred. We also found that the force has reduced the number of children who are missing from care.
“But the force needs to improve in several areas. These include how it investigates online child exploitation and its response to the sudden and unexpected death of children. It should also improve how it records data about ethnicity.
“Although this report highlights areas for improvement, I commend the force for their commitment to child protection. The concerted efforts of officers and staff, extending from operational teams to strategic leaders, are helping to achieve better outcomes for children.”
South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Tom Williams said: “Every day our officers and staff both on the frontline and in specialist roles work tirelessly to protect the most vulnerable people in our communities from harm and I am really pleased that our work on child protection has been recognised by HM Inspectorate.
“Much of this work goes on behind the scenes, unseen by the public but it is a vital part of policing which we have invested in to protect children. We work tirelessly with our partners to identify those at risk of harm, ensure they are safeguarded and given appropriate support and investigate the perpetrators of abuse, neglect and exploitation of young people.
“In such a complex area of policing there will be ways we can get better which is why we have increased training and set up dedicated exploitation teams which have already made a difference in identifying and investigating offences of grooming and child sexual exploitation. There is more work to do but we are totally committed to protecting children from harm and playing an integral role in the wider network of partners across South Wales who keep young people safe.
“My plea to anyone who considers that they or someone close to them may be experiencing abuse or be at risk of abuse to come forward and report it to police. We will listen and investigate those who commit these horrendous crimes to bring them to justice.”