PCC: ‘North Yorkshire Police has let public down’ on child protection

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspected North Yorkshire Police in November 2021 and found the standard of investigations in child protection cases was poor and that safeguarding and child protection is not prioritised enough.

The inspectors set out recommendations and visited again in December 2022 for a review but the findings, published today, have not made comfortable reading for Conservative Police, Crime and Fire Commissioner Ms Metcalfe.

As part of the review, inspectors assessed 11 child protection investigations but only three were judged to be "good". 

Five were rated as "inadequate" and inspectors found “serious failures in practice“ that resulted in children being harmed or left at risk.

While the review says the control room is now better at identifying at-risk children, it said risk assessments for missing children are inconsistent and there were records of call handlers using “inappropriate victim-blaming language".

The report includes details of a meeting where a disused hotel was discussed because missing children were known to go there, but despite the situation being well-known to officers no one had dealt with it.

Zoe Metcalfe (Conservative).

It also said referral arrangements to schools for children affected by domestic abuse are “inefficient and ineffective.“

The report said the force is increasing the number of trained detectives in specialist roles but said it is struggling to maintain the number of experienced detectives required to investigate crimes competently.

It said this has proved to be difficult because over half of the force’s frontline officers have less than two years of police experience. The report says this has led to most officers not having the skills or time to effectively investigate child sexual exploitation or online abuse.

Ms Metcalfe said: “First and foremost, I am here for the public, victims and survivors impacted by the issues covered by this latest report. My Supporting Victims service which sits separately from North Yorkshire Police is available to anyone impacted by crime to help them to cope and recover. So, if you or someone you know needs support, please visit the website at www.supportingvictims.org or call 01609 643100 to speak to a trained professional who can offer help and advice.  

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“I acknowledge the areas where improvement has been made, specifically changes to training of staff about understanding vulnerability, the notable increase in the quality and number of referrals for children to the local authorities, and the force control room response to calls where children may be at risk. However, my focus must be on the areas which do not deliver for our most vulnerable and to understand why the highest standards are not currently being met.  

“North Yorkshire Police have had a year to progress their action plan following the first HMICFRS report on child protection. My team and I were regularly assured that all concerns would be tackled head on and improvements made at a significant pace but instead, 12 months later, the force is not in the position I expected them to be in. Not enough has been done and there is simply no excuse – North Yorkshire Police have let the public and the most vulnerable in our society down.  

“As commissioner and a mother of two children, one of whom is vulnerable and has complex needs I share the frustration, deep disappointment and upset many people will be feeling. I know that it is my responsibility to increase the accountability of and pressure on the Chief Constable, to demand answers and not accept anything other than immediate and significant improvement.  

“Whilst a debrief provided by the inspectorate in preparation for this report revealed North Yorkshire Police still had areas to progress, this progress has been much slower than anticipated – as a result, I am making arrangements for an additional layer of scrutiny – I expect evidence in relation to any assurances I am given. "

North Yorkshire Police said it fully accepts the findings of the report.

Assistant chief constable Scott Bisset, the force's vulnerability lead, added: "Throughout the past year we have worked across all the areas that HMICFRS previously highlighted for improvement, and while our action plan has not been fully delivered we have made progress in all areas. Our objective is to ensure that the improvements we put in place to better protect vulnerable children are truly embedded and sustainable in the long term.

"We have invested significantly in the training of our officers and control room staff and the report notes that this is working and that they found a much-improved approach to identifying risk and providing the right level of response to help vulnerable children and focus on the voice of the child.

"Our Digital Forensics Unit was highlighted in the report as causing delays in the safeguarding of children. We have invested £400,000 to reduce the backlog and the unit is currently on track to deliver a standard turnaround for the examination of digital devices within 72 hours, which will make a significant difference to the timeliness of our investigations. We have invested £1.17m to increase the specialist roles in our central safeguarding team, with a focus on child protection. We are also establishing specialist safeguarding teams within each of our three command areas which will help us to develop a more specialist response to child safeguarding.

"We know that there is still further work to be done and are fully committed to delivering and completing the actions in our improvement plan."