Letter from Deputy Chief Constable Damian Barratt about HMICFRS accelerated cause for concern

Today HMICFRS (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services) have issued an accelerated cause for concern for our force due to backlogs in safeguarding referrals.

I recognise the seriousness of this cause for concern and accept HMICFRS’ findings. Along with work we already had underway, we will continue to work closely with HMICFRS to ensure that the improvements we make are quick and sustainable.

I’ve chosen to write this letter to you to be open and transparent about why we are in this situation and, most importantly, what we are doing about it.

The referrals mentioned are information reports officers provide to our specialist teams after responding to an incident where a child or vulnerable adult are involved. The team then determine whether the information needs to be shared with partners to discuss any additional intervention or support that might be needed.

Our safeguarding activity, which helps protect vulnerable children and adults, involves initial incident response and attendance, investigation, ensuring protective measures are in place, victim care and support, and so much more.

The concerns raised by HMICFRS today are specifically about the timeliness of our safeguarding referrals, the information we share with our partners. It does not follow a new inspection of our wider safeguarding activity.

We have consistently prioritised urgent cases, such as incidents of domestic abuse where children are present and repeat incidents involving children. Earlier this month, HMICFRS in conjunction with Ofsted, released a report that identified that we triage referrals effectively based on risk.

To improve our safeguarding work, we had already begun to move from four teams across our force area to one new central team (our Vulnerability Hub), formed by dedicated specialists making sure referrals are quick, clear and consistent. Working as one team, not five, means our resources aren’t limited by geographic boundaries as they have been previously.

Due to our ongoing budget challenges this new approach has taken longer to put in place than we had wanted. We’re working hard and quickly to manage this and get it fully up and running. Officers and staff are now in place in the new Vulnerability Hub, with more joining soon to strengthen the team. We’re also working on using technology better, particularly where our partner’s systems differ across the three counties, to reduce delays in our referrals.

To address the immediate backlog, we have also deployed extra officers temporarily into the team, to complete the backlog and bring us back to where we should be and will be.

I am fully committed to addressing the challenges rightly identified by HMICFRS and improving how we protect vulnerable people across our communities.

PCC John Campion said:

Protecting the vulnerable and keeping people safe are at the very heart of my mission as Commissioner. These two things are non-negotiable. I will therefore continue to support and challenge the Chief Constable and partners to ensure we can address the concerns raised in this inspection.