West Mercia Police issued with ‘accelerated cause of concern’ over safeguarding concerns
West Mercia Police has been issued with an ‘accelerated cause of concern’ by the police inspectorate over its “inadequate” response to safeguarding referrals to help keep vulnerable people safe.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said the force has not improved how it manages safeguarding referrals since its previous inspection.
It added: “HMICFRS has therefore issued an accelerated cause of concern to West Mercia Police. These can be issued when a police force’s failures raise concerns about public safety – as is the case with West Mercia Police.
“The force needs to make prompt safeguarding referrals to statutory partners to help keep vulnerable people safe.”
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Kathryn Stone said: “I have issued an accelerated cause of concern to West Mercia Police as its response to safeguarding is inadequate. It is disappointing it hasn’t improved how it manages safeguarding referrals since our previous inspection.
“The force doesn’t have the necessary processes, capability or capacity in its vulnerability hub, and many officers and staff also hadn’t received specific risk assessment training or guidance.
“It cannot manage the risk posed by backlogs in safeguarding referrals and the delays in sharing information with statutory partners. The force’s systems and processes also didn’t allow it to identify and prioritise the levels of risk in the backlog.
“The force must make sure that it understands the risk of this backlog, reduces it and prevents it from happening in future. I urge the force to implement our recommendations so it can manage the risk posed by inadequate risk assessments and delays in assessing and sharing information with statutory partners.”
To address concerns, HMICFRS has recommended that West Mercia Police should:
- Make sure it understands the risks that the backlog poses to vulnerable people, their families and offenders, so it can appropriately prioritise safeguarding referrals;
- Work with statutory partners to create and implement a plan to clear the backlogs and make sure it assesses referrals without further delay;
- Put in place a governance structure with oversight from senior leaders to promptly identify any increase in referrals that exceed the vulnerability hub’s capacity;
- Assess the vulnerability hub’s capacity and capability to create a sustainable safeguarding referral system; and
- Make sure that officers and staff working in the vulnerability hub have the right skills, training and experience.
Deputy Chief Constable Damian Barratt said he recognised “the seriousness of this cause for concern” and accepts HMICFRS’ findings.
“Along with work we already had underway, we will continue to work closely with HMICFRS to ensure that the improvements we make are quick and sustainable,” he said.
In an open letter, Mr Barratt said: “The referrals mentioned are information reports officers provide to our specialist teams after responding to an incident where a child or vulnerable adult are involved. The team then determine whether the information needs to be shared with partners to discuss any additional intervention or support that might be needed.
“Our safeguarding activity, which helps protect vulnerable children and adults, involves initial incident response and attendance, investigation, ensuring protective measures are in place, victim care and support, and so much more.
“The concerns raised by HMICFRS today are specifically about the timeliness of our safeguarding referrals, the information we share with our partners. It does not follow a new inspection of our wider safeguarding activity.
“We have consistently prioritised urgent cases, such as incidents of domestic abuse where children are present and repeat incidents involving children. Earlier this month, HMICFRS in conjunction with Ofsted, released a report that identified that we triage referrals effectively based on risk.”
He said to improve safeguarding work, it had already begun to move from four teams across the force area to one new central team (Vulnerability Hub), formed by dedicated specialists making sure referrals are quick, clear and consistent.
“Working as one team, not five, means our resources aren’t limited by geographic boundaries as they have been previously,” Mr Barratt said.
“Due to our ongoing budget challenges this new approach has taken longer to put in place than we had wanted. We’re working hard and quickly to manage this and get it fully up and running.
“Officers and staff are now in place in the new Vulnerability Hub, with more joining soon to strengthen the team. We’re also working on using technology better, particularly where our partner’s systems differ across the three counties, to reduce delays in our referrals.
“To address the immediate backlog, we have also deployed extra officers temporarily into the team, to complete the backlog and bring us back to where we should be and will be.
“I am fully committed to addressing the challenges rightly identified by HMICFRS and improving how we protect vulnerable people across our communities.”
West Mercia police and crime commissioner John Campion said: “Protecting the vulnerable and keeping people safe are at the very heart of my mission as commissioner. These two things are non-negotiable. I will therefore continue to support and challenge the chief constable and partners to ensure we can address the concerns raised in this inspection.”