Watchdog says Humberside Police must improve safeguarding as force praised in other areas

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services has said Humberside Police must improve how it safeguards children and adults at risk, in findings affecting North and North East Lincolnshire. The inspection report said there were weaknesses in how some safeguarding work was handled, although the force was praised in several other areas. Inspectors said safeguarding information was not always properly tracked, analysed or escalated to senior leaders. They also said safeguarding plans were not consistently followed through. The report highlighted concerns about the management of domestic abuse cases and applications made under the child sex offender disclosure scheme. It also said crimes involving vulnerable people were not always recorded correctly. In one audit, inspectors found nine crimes that had not been logged. The report also said the force did not always correctly record rape offences from reported incidents and did not always correctly cancel rape crimes when required. Inspectors said some of the problems had been identified previously. Michelle Skeer, who authored the report, said she was satisfied with most aspects of the force's performance but had identified important gaps in safeguarding that required improvement. She also said a lack of stability in senior leadership had been one reason progress had not been made sooner. Despite the criticism, the force received stronger assessments in other parts of the inspection. Humberside Police was rated outstanding for preventing and deterring crime, good at responding to the public, and adequate in six other areas. The report also highlighted positive findings on answering calls and neighbourhood policing. Inspectors said the number of officers in neighbourhood roles was higher than the average for forces in England and Wales. The findings are relevant to communities in North and North East Lincolnshire served by Humberside Police. The report said vulnerable people were not always receiving the level of protection expected when safeguarding processes were not followed correctly. The inspection comes during a period of leadership change in the force. Chris Todd was appointed chief constable last year after the departure of Paul Anderson in June 2024. Inspectors said there were signs action was being taken to address the problems. These included work on a new safeguarding strategy and the creation of a detective chief superintendent role focused on safeguarding. Police and crime commissioner Jonathan Evison said he was grateful to officers and staff for their work while recognising that further improvement was needed. He said he agreed progress had been made and that leadership was now in place to help sustain it. The report sets out both the areas where inspectors said Humberside Police was performing well and the areas where it said improvement was required. For North and North East Lincolnshire, the findings include concerns over safeguarding, domestic abuse case handling and crime recording, alongside positive assessments in crime prevention, public response and neighbourhood policing.