Taking decisive action to improve how we safeguard children at risk

We’re taking decisive action to bring about rapid change to how we safeguard children at risk following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

In a report published today (Wednesday 21 May) HMICFRS said we were ‘inadequate’ at responding to children at risk; investigating reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of children; and in our leadership of child protection arrangements.

The inspectorate rated us as ‘adequate’ at working with safeguarding partners and ‘requires improvement’ at assessing risk to children and making appropriate referrals.

HMICFRS inspectors provided feedback on conclusion of their visit in December last year, identifying areas we could improve. This information has since been used to develop an improvement plan which lays out how we’re addressing their concerns.

Among the actions we’ve taken or are in the process of taking are:

• Launching the Gloucestershire Rapid Improvement Plan (GRIP) – a plan for the whole workforce which sets out how we intend to improve our performance over the next 12 months. Keeping children and young people safe is one of the GRIP’s priorities.

• Ensuring greater scrutiny and oversight of how we safeguard children at risk by introducing a monthly Crime and Vulnerability Performance Board chaired by an Assistant Chief Constable.

• Increasing the number of investigators we have in our specialist investigation teams, including our Child Abuse Investigation Team.  This has seen 20 additional officers commencing in those roles on 12 May.

• Introducing a dedicated missing person team which will audit missing people cases regularly to ensure appropriate risk assessments are carried out and relevant investigative actions implemented.

• Providing specialist training to hundreds of officers and staff. More than 600 officers have received training on evidence-led prosecutions while all frontline officers and staff continue to receive training on domestic abuse. We’re also planning to deliver training which will ensure the voice of the child is always considered when we encounter a case or incident where one is involved.

• Forging even closer working relationships with partners, specifically with those working in education and social care. In March this year we hosted a national missing person conference in Gloucestershire and last month brought together multi-agency colleagues to explore how we can address gaps in identifying and responding to adolescent domestic abuse. We’re also planning a multi-agency child protection conference bringing together key stakeholders to discuss Gloucestershire's approach to protecting children from harm.

• Reaching out for specialist advice and national excellence from the National Police Chief’s Council leads and the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme.

• Issued comprehensive internal and external communications to inform and educate our workforce and the public on child protection matters. In February this year, we worked with the Internet Watch Foundation to deliver an external campaign on behalf of the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children's Partnership to tackle online grooming and the distribution of indecent images of children in Gloucestershire via social media apps.

In addition to highlighting areas for improvement, HMICFRS recognised how Chief Officers and senior leaders have made efforts to help officers and staff provide a child-centred service and how all employees have been made aware of the need to avoid using victim-blaming language.

Its report also commented on how the Constabulary has social workers embedded alongside officers and staff in its child exploitation team, saying this provides a good opportunity for effective sharing of information and responding to children’s needs more quickly.

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone, lead for Crime, Justice and Vulnerability, said: “Children and young people are some of the most vulnerable members of society and it’s essential we do everything we can to keep them safe.

“We accept HMICFRS’ findings and recognise we have work to do to address the concerns identified in its report and to deliver the improvements required.

“The steps we’ve already taken will help us ensure we’ve the necessary specialist skills and resources in place to protect children from harm; to respond to and investigate incidents involving them; and that appropriate leadership and oversight is maintained for all child protection matters.

“The safeguarding of children in Gloucestershire is a key priority for the Constabulary and we’ll continue to work with HMICFRS, as well as with our partners, to improve.”