Police contact with a mother and unborn child subject to child protection - Metropolitan Police Service, February 2020

Do you accept the recommendation?

Yes

Accepted action:

The MPS has considered and accepts this IOPC recommendation.

In November 2021, a series of mandatory continuous professional development days commenced for all police officers working in public protection, including those working within the Child Abuse Investigation Teams (CAIT). A range of topics are covered including information sharing responsibilities, the voice of the child, harmful practices and preventing the vulnerable from being drawn into radicalisation. These will continue to be run annually and will act as both a refresher and an opportunity to cascade new information to the relevant teams.

In addition to the above, every CAIT is being visited by the MPS Continuous Policing Improvement Command team alongside the Lead Responsible Officer for Child Protection. These visits involve two days of refresher training including the management of referrals, children on child protection plans and linked investigations. These will be re-visited on an ongoing rotational basis to ensure any turnover in staff within a 12 month period is captured. The above is in addition to the re-written Specialist Child Abuse Investigator Development Programme training course being re-developed and was launched in October 2021. The content includes the fact that a significant number of child abuse concerns start without an allegation of crime or disclosure from the child but emphasises the role police still have to play. It also acknowledges the need for child abuse investigators to not focus only on the child but equally consider the vulnerabilities of the adults concerned and the possibility that they are both victim and suspect in some cases.

Associated accreditation and continuous professional development is now being monitored centrally by the Lead Responsible Officer to ensure greater oversight and consistency across the CAITs.

Do you accept the recommendation?

Yes

Accepted action:

The MPS has considered and accepts this IOPC recommendation.

The Lead Responsible Officer for Child Protection had already identified this gap in training but took the decision to wait for the detail of these recommendations to progress in order to ensure all aspects were included. Liaison with the MPS Learning and Development Command regarding the creation of a bespoke course commenced in August 2021. Now that the full recommendation has been received and accepted work will commence on designing the learning objectives, course content and timescales for delivery. This will include dialogue with the College of Policing to establish if a national product exists or other forces are more advanced in this area. A number of experienced practitioners have already been identified to assist in the designing of the course content.

The course will be made mandatory for all police staff performing the Police Conference Liaison Officer (PCLO) role and all Detective Sergeants who have supervisory responsibility for the PCLOs. Content will include all aspects of the role from information sharing at the conference to the actions required once a child becomes subject to a child protection plan including risk assessments. This will detail the IIMARCH briefings required for other officers to ensure they are aware of the actions which must be taken in respect of these children should concerns about their whereabouts be raised including linked missing person investigations.