Staffordshire Police: We'll make tackling child neglect a top priority

It comes after the number of child cruelty and neglect cases recorded by the force has gone up dramatically.

Parents or carers in the county were reported to Staffordshire Police in connection with 86 offences in 2014-15, compared to 41 in 2012-13.

The figures were released by the NSPCC as part of the charity's annual child protection review – How Safe Are Our Children? Across England, the total rose by 40 per cent, from 6,069 in 2012-13 to 8,506 in 2014-15.

Supt Tim Martin, from the force safeguarding and investigation team at Staffordshire Police, said: "The protection of vulnerable children is an absolute priority for us.

"We are committed to ensuring that the children and young people who need our help get it.

"Child cruelty and neglect is simply unacceptable and there is no excuse for it. Together with our partners we are continually working to address such matters in our communities and I would encourage anyone who is concerned about a child to contact us."

Mr Martin added that the rise could be put down to 'several factors' and pointed to specific work carried out by the force to reduce child cruelty

"We acknowledge the rise in the reporting of child protection issues, which is reflected nationally, and this could be attributed to several factors including the way we record crime has changed and improved; people have more confidence when they report such matters to us; we have dedicated teams of officers working in this area of business and we ensure we mirror the demand with staffing.

"We have dedicated teams to tackle the rise of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), along with investigating reports of cruelty and neglect. The child exploitation teams target on street, online (Operation Safenet) and also a multi-agency Prevent team. All this activity means we identify a greater number of offences as we are actively focusing on them."

Details about how parents can help their children stay safe online are available now through the www.knowaboutcse.co.uk website which was launched in Staffordshire earlier this year.

Sandra McNair, NSPCC West Midlands Head of Service, said: "Neglect is the most common form of abuse in the UK and can seriously harm a child's brain development, emotional well-being, ability to form relationships, and mental health.