Force 'requires improvement' over children at risk

Some areas of Northamptonshire Police's children's services need to improve, say inspectors

Children exposed to domestic abuse should be recognised as victims and treated accordingly by police, inspectors have said.

Northamptonshire Police has been rated as requires improvement when responding to children at risk of harm and when investigating child abuse, neglect or abuse, according to HM Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer.

Inspectors found officers did not routinely see and speak to children present during domestic abuse incidents, as required by law (the Domestic Abuse Act 2021).

Assistant Chief Constable Emma James said the report had identified gaps in the force's child protection services, adding it was using them to make improvements.

"Since the inspection, we have taken some very simple steps to improve the way we safeguard children, not least in assessing all missing children as high-risk cases, but I acknowledge work still needs to be done to ensure a consistency of approach to child safeguarding," she said.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said she was reassured that the force had responded promptly and comprehensively to the inspectors' feedback

The force did not act quickly enough to find missing children who ought to have been graded as high risk of harm but were not, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services report said.

In one case, it took officers 10 days to visit a missing child, rated as at risk of significant harm.

When they did, "they correctly used their protective powers to remove the child from harm", inspectors said.

Children's experiences were not considered or recorded in a third of the cases they reviewed (17 out of 49), including where they were victims of crime, inspectors added.

They gave an example were officers took a week to respond to a report a child had been assaulted by his mother and then did not share information with social services.

Ms Skeer said: "The force should make sure its strategies and policies prioritise the need to protect children, and that officers and staff understand their responsibility to safeguard children and promote their welfare."

More positively, she rated Northamptonshire Police as good for the way it works with other safeguarding agencies such as local authorities and the NHS.

Inspectors also found adequate staffing at specialist units, such as the child abuse investigation unit, and noted they received specialist training on domestic abuse and child protection.

Officers in high-risk roles also received counselling and had access to trauma support.

ACC James said: "Child protection is an especially challenging area of policing, and we don't get everything right, as the report acknowledges.

"It's good to see that in some areas we are getting things right, in terms of our partnership working, the extra resource we have put into this area and [in] good practice - such as the introduction of early intervention workers where their engagement with a missing child and their family has led to an 88% fall in repeat missing episodes."