West Midlands Police works well with safeguarding partners, but must improve response to children at risk of harm
West Midlands Police is good at working with safeguarding partners, but it needs to make further progress in how it investigates reports of abuse and assesses risk to children, the police inspectorate has said.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded West Midland Police’s performance across five areas, assessing how well it safeguards children who are at risk. It found the force was ‘good’ in one area (working with partner0s, ‘adequate’ in its leadership of child protection arrangements, and ‘requires improvement’ in three areas – responding to children at risk of harm, risk assessment and referrals, and investigating child abuse, neglect and exploitation.
HMICFRS said that the force’s governance arrangements provide strong oversight of performance and practice. The force prioritises child protection and has good oversight of ongoing issues through its daily threat and risk meetings.
The force also works well with its safeguarding partners. It has good arrangements to share information and contribute to joint plans to prevent harm to children. The force provides personnel to multi-agency safeguarding hubs in every local policing area where staff from different agencies work in the same location. This helps it to quickly share information to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
However, the force needs to make sure that its officers and staff consistently speak with children and record the voice of the child, the inspectorate said. This is important to effectively understand the child’s experience. Inspectors also said that the force needs to correctly flag children who are at risk of, or harmed by, exploitation, and those perpetrators who pose a risk to children.
HMICFRS said that the force should make sure all officers, staff and supervisors investigating child sexual exploitation have the right knowledge and skills. Inspectors found that although the force provides training, this doesn’t always result in officers carrying out joint working or good quality investigations for children who are victims of online child sexual exploitation.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said: “I am pleased with some aspects of the performance of West Midlands Police in safeguarding children at risk, but there are several areas in which it needs to improve.
“We found chief officers and senior leaders make sure there are enough officers and staff to provide effective safeguarding services for children and their families. And the force has a range of measures to support the well-being of its officers and staff who work in child protection roles.
“But the force needs to make sure that officers and staff speak with children and record the voice of the child consistently. It should also make make referrals to statutory safeguarding partners for every child in need of help and support, and check that those referrals contain all relevant information.
“It is also really important that all officers and staff investigating child sexual exploitation have the right knowledge and skills to get the best outcomes for children.
“I was reassured that the force responded promptly and comprehensively to our ongoing feedback during this inspection. It has already put some plans in place to address the areas in which it needs to improve. I will continue to monitor its progress.”
Assistant Chief Constable Jen Mattinson said: “We welcome the inspectorate’s report which helps reinforce our child-focused response.
“Child protection is a priority for West Midlands Police, it is crucial that we protect the most vulnerable people in our society. We have a shared responsibility to look for the warning signs, be alert to the risks and act quickly to protect children.
“The report highlighted the strong oversight of performance and practice arrangements that are in place for child protection.
“Most of this work isn’t visible to the public but it is a vital part of policing. I am pleased that our work with partners has been graded as good – we have built strong relations with those who provide children services across the West Midlands.
“Child protection is a complex area of policing and we know there’s more we need to do, we have already put plans in place to focus on the areas that require improvement.”
A number of initiatives were identified in the report.
Operation Encompass, which began in 2021, enhances communication between the police and schools where a child is at risk from domestic abuse. It is a process used to inform schools when the police have attended an incident of domestic violence or abuse in the homes of their pupils. This ensures sensitive and child-focused in-school support to mitigate the impact of domestic abuse on the affected child’s learning, wellbeing and development.
Operation Makesafe sees officers and staff working with hotels, taxi companies, vape shops and large events venues in the force area to make sure their personnel can spot signs of child exploitation and report it.