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West Mercia Police must improve its response to safeguarding referrals to help keep vulnerable people safe, the police inspectorate has said.

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West Mercia Police: Accelerated cause of concern

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said West Mercia Police’s response to safeguarding is inadequate and it hasn’t improved how it manages safeguarding referrals since our previous inspection.

HMICFRS has therefore issued an accelerated cause of concern to West Mercia Police. These can be issued when a police force’s failures raise concerns about public safety – as is the case with West Mercia Police.

The force needs to make prompt safeguarding referrals to statutory partners to help keep vulnerable people safe. To address these concerns, HMICFRS has recommended that West Mercia Police should:

• make sure it understands the risks that the backlog poses to vulnerable people, their families and offenders, so it can appropriately prioritise safeguarding referrals;
• work with statutory partners to create and implement a plan to clear the backlogs and make sure it assesses referrals without further delay;
• put in place a governance structure with oversight from senior leaders to promptly identify any increase in referrals that exceed the vulnerability hub’s capacity;
• assess the vulnerability hub’s capacity and capability to create a sustainable safeguarding referral system; and
• make sure that officers and staff working in the vulnerability hub have the right skills, training and experience.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Kathryn Stone said:

“I have issued an accelerated cause of concern to West Mercia Police as its response to safeguarding is inadequate. It is disappointing it hasn’t improved how it manages safeguarding referrals since our previous inspection.

“The force doesn’t have the necessary processes, capability or capacity in its vulnerability hub, and many officers and staff also hadn’t received specific risk assessment training or guidance.

“It cannot manage the risk posed by backlogs in safeguarding referrals and the delays in sharing information with statutory partners. The force’s systems and processes also didn’t allow it to identify and prioritise the levels of risk in the backlog.

“The force must make sure that it understands the risk of this backlog, reduces it and prevents it from happening in future. I urge the force to implement our recommendations so it can manage the risk posed by inadequate risk assessments and delays in assessing and sharing information with statutory partners.”

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West Mercia Police: Accelerated cause of concern

Notes

• For further information, please contact the HMICFRS Press Office on 0300 071 6781 or HMICPressOffice@hmicfrs.gov.uk.
• If our inspection identifies a serious or critical shortcoming in a force’s practice, policy, or performance, it will be reported as a cause of concern. A cause of concern will always be accompanied by one or more recommendations.
• When we identify causes of concern during our inspections, we normally provide details in the subsequent force report. In some cases, such as when we discover significant failures or risks to public safety, we report our concerns and recommendations earlier. This is called an accelerated cause of concern.