Child abuse investigations must improve, force told

Staffordshire Police must improve how it investigates and responds to reports of children at risk of abuse, an inspection has found.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) carried out checks of the force's child protection work in May 2025.

Although it was good at working with other agencies and sharing information, it needed to be better at investigating online child sexual exploitation, and how it responds out-of-hours to the unexpected death of a child, said HMICFRS.

The force said it has responded promptly to feedback, and had already put some plans in place to address the issues.

Staffordshire Police's performance at safeguarding children was assessed across five areas.

It was found to be good at working with safeguarding partners, and adequate when it came to leadership of child protection arrangements and risk assessment and referrals.

However, the force was deemed to require improvement in responding to children at risk of harm, as well as investigating child abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Despite investing in its public protection unit, including creating an additional 100 posts - 41 specific to child protection - in 2023, progress had been disappointing and slow in some areas, said HMICFRS.

That conclusion included recognising children affected by domestic abuse.

The force has been told to make improvements including noting demographic detail about children such as their ethnicity, to better assess risks, as well as correctly recording information about children who go missing.

In response, Staffordshire Police stressed that safeguarding children was one of its highest priorities, and that it was committed to addressing the areas identified for improvement.

It also highlighted areas where inspectors deemed its child protection work to be strong.

They include prompt information sharing with schools, specialist training for sudden or unexpected child deaths, and proactive work with hotels to identify and report exploitation.

HMICFRS inspector Michelle Skeer concluded her report by stating "I was reassured that the force responded promptly and comprehensively to our feedback during this inspection" and said she would continue to monitor its progress.

Staffordshire Police said it will provide HMICFRS with a detailed action plan on how it will implement improvements within the next eight weeks.

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