Inspection states Thames Valley Police must do more to protect the vulnerable

Thames Valley Police has been told it must improve its approach to protecting vulnerable people following a new inspection.

A new report released by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which can be read in full here, gave the force low marks in five of eight categories.

Released this morning (6 December), the report found that the Thames Valley Police communicates and uses stop and search powers effectively, but needs to adapt its approach to protecting the vulnerable.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Roy Wilsher said: “I am satisfied with some aspects of the performance of Thames Valley Police in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service. But there are areas in which the force needs to improve.

“The force has nine multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASH) due to the size of the force area, and I am concerned about some of the processes within these hubs. It needs to make sure it has effective and consistent processes in place to protect vulnerable victims and share information promptly with other safeguarding agencies.

“The force had a change in leadership in the six months leading up to our inspection, and the new team has a clear purpose that it has communicated well, which focuses on building trust, serving victims, fighting crime and valuing the workforce.

“I am pleased with the way the team has responded to my concerns. The force has already taken steps to make improvements, and I will be monitoring progress closely.”

The force scored best when it comes to treating the public fairly and adequately. Its ability to prevent and reduce crime was rated as adequate, as was the force’s workforce culture. The four areas identified as in need of improvement were: responding to the public, investigating crimes, managing offenders, and its leadership and overall management approach. Its worst grade was reserved for protecting the vulnerable, the police force’s practices were categorised as inadequate.

Thames Valley Police states it has made changes to address the concerns raised and these are already in effect. A force spokesperson said: “Earlier this year, and in response to early findings in the report, the force took immediate steps to increase staffing levels in its safeguarding teams, including doubling its senior team to support its focus on protecting vulnerable people. Referrals to partners about vulnerable people are now sent within appropriate timescales, and queues in the force’s multi-agency safeguarding hubs have now been cleared.”

Chief Constable Jason Hogg, who was promoted to the force’s top job in April, added: "We have an incredibly committed workforce who came into policing to protect people from harm and protecting vulnerable people is at the core of what we do. We take safeguarding extremely seriously and have been working closely with HMICFRS since their inspection to make sure we have rigorous processes in place to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.”

Both Chief Constable Hogg and the Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber, have highlighted despite the force scoring disappointing marks, the inspection does reference many examples of good policing and ongoing practices.