Police work on child protection recognised by HMICFRS

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection, Chief Constable Simon Bailey, said:

 “We are alive to many of the issues raised in this report and will take time to go through and consider the recommendations. Policing will always explore any steps we can take to protect our children better and as the report says we are already committing increasing levels of resources to this.

“The report rightly recognises the hard work and dedication of police officers to keep children safe. However, it also correctly points out that the demands on the police service have increased at a time when our resources have fallen. We are dealing with a perfect storm of increased reports of non-recent abuse, ever growing online offences and the challenges of familial abuse, which is still our biggest demand.

“This pressure on the service means that on too many occasions we are reacting to reports of abuse and exploitation rather than getting ahead of the threat through early intervention.

“However, placing the responsibility for tackling the exploitation of children at the door of policing alone will solve nothing. We need the government to take a lead and every part of the system, in particular health, Public Health and education, to play their part.”