Police Committee responds to HMICFRS report on Met’s approach to child protection

In response to the findings by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services that the Metropolitan Police Service’s response to the criminal and sexual exploitation of children is not effective, Caroline Russell AM, Chair of the Police and Crime Committee, said:

“Last year, the Police and Crime Committee’s (PCC) ‘Missing Children in London’ report warned that the Met was failing to appropriately identify and assess risk when a child is reported missing, hindering efforts to locate and safeguard vulnerable children.

“The report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) recognises the findings of the PCC report last year, including highlighting the force’s issues with providing accurate data, which is making it harder to get an accurate and up-to-date understanding of the nature and scale of the problem in London.

“Through our investigation, we heard that families and carers can face delays when reporting missing children and sometimes receive inaccurate information from police call handlers.

“The Inspectorate’s report highlights how it saw ‘numerous delays in initiating investigations, with crime reports passed from team to team before any ownership was taken.’.

“When a child goes missing, they are exposed to the most terrible harms, including from gangs, sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking.

“It is vital that the Met urgently resolves these significant issues by acting on the recommendations from the HMICFRS report, alongside the recommendations from the Police and Crime Committee.”