His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspected the force in July 2022 and concluded it has a committed and enthusiastic workforce, with a clear focus on ensuring the voice of the child is heard. It also has a high-quality of multi-agency child protection investigations; good management of sex offenders and good care and treatment of detained children.

Some of the good practice highlighted included how the force supports children needing immediate protection and how its child protection investigators work effectively with other organisations through its Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub or MASH. It stated ‘managers and staff from the force work closely with professionals from these partners to co-ordinate operational services and make them as effective as possible.’

Whilst highlighting a number of positive findings relevant to child protection arrangements, the inspectorate also established that the force needs to make some improvements and in particular significant changes to the way it assesses and responds to the risk affecting some vulnerable children such as children who are missing from home or who are vulnerable to sexual and criminal exploitation and children who are victims of abuse on digital media.

Assistant Chief Constable Eamonn Bridger said: “We acknowledge the findings of the recent HMICFRS report into child protection as a follow up into the inspection that took place in July 2022. The protection of children is of paramount importance to Suffolk police and inspection of this critical area has been extremely beneficial to our understanding of safeguarding.

“It was pleasing to see that the report identified many positive findings and recognised that overall our child protection practices are good. It is clear that our workforce are committed to ensuring child protection investigations are effective with the victim voice and needs central throughout. We work with our key partners to improve the outcomes for children and protect those that are most in need, it is reassuring to have independent confirmation that this is happening effectively in Suffolk.

“We recognise the areas that need further development, most notably in our response to missing and potentially exploited children. Since our inspection in July, we have been actively taking steps to ensure rapid improvements are made, prioritising these two key areas. We are committed to working in partnership to ensure that the child protection arrangements in Suffolk are enhanced yet further where they can be. This work will be a priority for the Constabulary and will continue into 2023 and beyond.”