Full inspectors report on Lincolnshire Police published following concerns over child protection arrangements
The full findings of an inspection report has revealed how there were causes for concern about the way Lincolnshire Police attempted to safeguard children at risk.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Service assessed the Force in November last year, and at the time resulted in two accelerated causes of concern and the graded judgements now received in the full report give complete details of five areas where the Force needs to improve. The inspection team has been feeding back concerns relating to leadership, working with safeguarding partners, responding to children at risk, assessing risk and making appropriate referrals, and investigating reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of children.
Since November, Lincolnshire Police says it has implemented a significant programme of change, with further work ongoing, and has recently committed to recruiting more staff in this area to accelerate improvement. It says additional resources will be directed towards safeguarding and investigating serious offences, including domestic abuse, child abuse and sexual offences. This investment will support the work of specialist teams dedicated to child abuse and sexual assault investigations, improving outcomes for victims, and addressing rising demand.
Deputy Chief Constable Chris Davison said: “We fully accept the findings of this report, and since we were first made aware of the accelerated causes of concern, which form the basis of this report, we quickly took action and much of the work implemented at the time now addresses the issues outlined in HMICFRS’s full report.
“This includes, but is not limited to, the planned and ongoing recruitment to add 48 police officers and nearly 12 members of staff to our Protecting Vulnerable Persons (PVP) team, and the majority of our specialist PVP investigators have now completed industry-standard training.
“A new initial screening and Child Exploitation risk indicator tool has been developed, which is applied to a variety of incidents to identify indicators of exploitation and prevent it. There is also clear escalation to the Multi Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT), which is a highly skilled specialist team that ensures that occurrences sit with the right agencies and appropriate referrals are made. Data shows this process has increased our identification of Child Sexual Exploitation by 32.4 per cent, so it is making a hugely positive difference.
“Furthermore, continued professional development is being delivered to the four main departments in the Force most likely to deal with child protection issues. We have also redefined an existing focus group to work more in tandem with partners and regional parties. Planned investment in our PVP team will increase frontline staff, while new live processes now track Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) occurrences and specialist investigative advice is now provided at the point of initial allocation. Also, our specialist investigators who work in this area have completed or have been booked onto SCAIDP courses.
“All of this work, and other associated actions, directly address the issues raised by HMICFRS and will see meaningful improvements made at pace.
“We will also continue to work hard in the areas recognised by the inspectorate where good work is happening. Some areas they specifically mentioned include improvements in our multi-agency child protection arrangements, and they positively talked about our understanding of our statutory responsibilities to safeguard children. They also pointed out good working with local and national partner organisations on local safeguarding arrangements for children, and how we promptly respond to reports of missing children. Finally, they pointed out as good that we have enough trained staff to respond effectively to the sudden and unexpected death of children.
“We know that there is still work to do but we are on the right path and will continue to work hard to make the changes needed.”
Lincolnshire Police has recently announced Lincs 2030 - the significant programme of investment designed to strengthen public safety, modernise policing services and build a resilient organisation for the future.
Deputy Chief Constable Chris Davison added: “Lincolnshire Police is at a turning point, in large part due to the stability funding we received earlier this year as that has allowed us to invest in areas that we haven’t previously been able to. At the core of what we do is attacking and preventing crime, looking after our victims and the most vulnerable in our societies, and building confidence. We are committed to building a service that is safe, accountable, and trusted by the communities we serve. “I am confident that with the investment in staff in our PVP team, and the important changes we have already implemented, we will continue to improve and deliver to young people in our communities an improved and excellent level of service.”