West Mercia Police told to improve 'inadequate' response to safeguarding referrals as backlog nearly triples in nine months

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has said West Mercia Police hasn’t improved how it manages safeguarding referrals - which can involve children and victims of domestic abuse - since its previous inspection.

A report states that inspections in July and December last year identified an area within the force which had “significant backlogs”.

Last December there was a waiting list of 1,023 cases including “high-risk” referrals, with people facing 16-day delays for assessments.

As of this month, the list has increased to 2,828 cases.

It was found that the force had “inappropriately graded” a number of cases as standard- or medium-risk, showing that it wasn’t always assessing risk properly and didn’t always adequately supervise risk assessments to make sure the grading was accurate.

HMICFRS has now issued an accelerated “cause of concern” to West Mercia Police, which covers Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Kathryn Stone said: “I have issued an accelerated cause of concern to West Mercia Police as its response to safeguarding is inadequate. It is disappointing it hasn’t improved how it manages safeguarding referrals since our previous inspection.

“The force doesn’t have the necessary processes, capability or capacity in its vulnerability hub, and many officers and staff also hadn’t received specific risk assessment training or guidance.

“It cannot manage the risk posed by backlogs in safeguarding referrals and the delays in sharing information with statutory partners. The force’s systems and processes also didn’t allow it to identify and prioritise the levels of risk in the backlog.

“The force must make sure that it understands the risk of this backlog, reduces it and prevents it from happening in future.

“I urge the force to implement our recommendations so it can manage the risk posed by inadequate risk assessments and delays in assessing and sharing information with statutory partners.”

It has been recommended that West Mercia Police should make sure it understands the risks that the backlog poses to vulnerable people, their families and offenders, so it can appropriately prioritise safeguarding referrals; work with statutory partners to create and implement a plan to clear the backlogs and make sure it assesses referrals without further delay, and put in place a governance structure with oversight from senior leaders to promptly identify any increase in referrals that exceed the vulnerability hub’s capacity.

'Budget challenges'

West Mercia Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Damian Barratt pointed to budget challenges and teething problems with a new centralised “vulnerability hub” as reasons for the report’s findings.

In a long letter to the public, published on the force's website, he wrote: “I recognise the seriousness of this cause for concern and accept HMICFRS’s findings. Along with work we already had underway, we will continue to work closely with HMICFRS to ensure that the improvements we make are quick and sustainable.

“I’ve chosen to write this letter to you to be open and transparent about why we are in this situation and, most importantly, what we are doing about it.

“The referrals mentioned are information reports officers provide to our specialist teams after responding to an incident where a child or vulnerable adult is involved.

“The team then determines whether the information needs to be shared with partners to discuss any additional intervention or support that might be needed.

“Our safeguarding activity, which helps protect vulnerable children and adults, involves initial incident response and attendance, investigation, ensuring protective measures are in place, victim care and support, and so much more.

“The concerns raised by HMICFRS today are specifically about the timeliness of our safeguarding referrals, the information we share with our partners. It does not follow a new inspection of our wider safeguarding activity.

“We have consistently prioritised urgent cases, such as incidents of domestic abuse where children are present and repeat incidents involving children. 

“Earlier this month, HMICFRS, in conjunction with Ofsted, released a report that identified that we triage referrals effectively based on risk.

“To improve our safeguarding work, we had already begun to move from four teams across our force area to one new central team (our Vulnerability Hub), formed by dedicated specialists making sure referrals are quick, clear and consistent. 

“Working as one team, not five, means our resources aren’t limited by geographic boundaries as they have been previously.

“Due to our ongoing budget challenges this new approach has taken longer to put in place than we had wanted. We’re working hard and quickly to manage this and get it fully up and running. 

“Officers and staff are now in place in the new Vulnerability Hub, with more joining soon to strengthen the team. 

“We’re also working on using technology better, particularly where our partner’s systems differ across the three counties, to reduce delays in our referrals.

“To address the immediate backlog, we have also deployed extra officers temporarily into the team, to complete the backlog and bring us back to where we should be and will be.

“I am fully committed to addressing the challenges rightly identified by HMICFRS and improving how we protect vulnerable people across our communities.”

John Campion, police and crime commissioner for West Mercia, said: “Protecting the vulnerable and keeping people safe are at the very heart of my mission as commissioner. 

“These two things are non-negotiable. I will therefore continue to support and challenge the Chief Constable and partners to ensure we can address the concerns raised in this inspection.”

To view the latest report visit hmicfrs.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/publication-html/west-mercia-police-accelerated-cause-of-concern-september-2025/.