Gloucestershire Constabulary needs to urgently improve its response to children at risk of harm, and how it investigates reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation, the police inspectorate has said.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded Gloucestershire Constabulary’s performance across five areas, assessing how well it safeguards children who are at risk. It found the force was ‘adequate’ in one area, ‘requires improvement’ in one area and ‘inadequate’ in three areas.

HMICFRS said that the constabulary has good arrangements to share information and contribute to joint plans to prevent harm to children.

However, the inspectorate identified three causes of concern relating to the constabulary’s leadership of child protection, how it records incidents when children are missing and how it investigates incidents involving children.

HMICFRS said that the constabulary doesn’t have effective governance arrangements for child protection. The constabulary’s leaders have been aware for some time that some of its child protection teams are under-resourced. This inspection found critical shortcomings in this area.

Inspectors also had serious concerns about the way the constabulary records its reports of vulnerable missing children, with officers and staff not always taking a child-centred approach when investigating incidents. HMICFRS regularly found delays in starting investigations, with enquiries often not pursued. As a result, inspectors saw many poor outcomes for children.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer said: “It was positive to see Gloucestershire Constabulary working well with its safeguarding partners, but in other areas, I have concerns about its work to protect children.

“The constabulary doesn’t have effective governance arrangements for child protection across its area. Leaders aren’t clear on their strategic work on improving outcomes for children. There are also serious concerns with the way the constabulary records its reports of vulnerable missing children. It has been aware of these concerns for some time but has been too slow in addressing them.

“The constabulary needs to improve how it manages, supervises and carries out investigations when children are abused, neglected or exploited. Officers and staff don’t always take a child-centred approach when investigating incidents involving children.

“I recognise there has been some instability in the senior team, but I have received assurances from the temporary chief constable that leaders are taking the findings very seriously, and are determined to oversee improvements. I will closely monitor progress in Gloucestershire Constabulary over the coming months.”