A REPORT into how well North Yorkshire Police keeps children safe found almost 15 child protection cases to be "inadequate".

And North Yorkshire's police, crime and fire commissioner said the force has "let the public and most vulnerable in our society down".

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has published the report of its reinspection of how the force keeps children safe.

The reinspection took place in December 2022 following an initial inspection in November 2021. During this reinspection, the HMICFRS said it examined force policies, strategies and other documents, interviewed senior leaders, managers and spoke with frontline staff and audited 33 child protection cases.

It found that 11 of the child protection cases were good, eight required improvement and 14 were inadequate.

Responding to the findings, North Yorkshire commissioner Zoë Metcalfe said: "I acknowledge the areas where improvement has been made, specifically changes to training of staff about understanding vulnerability, the notable increase in the quality and number of referrals for children to the local authorities and the force control room response to calls where children may be at risk.

"However, my focus must be on the areas which do not deliver for our most vulnerable and to understand why the highest standards are not currently being met.  

“North Yorkshire Police have had a year to progress their action plan following the first HMICFRS report on child protection. My team and I were regularly assured that all concerns would be tackled head on and improvements made at a significant pace but instead, 12 months later, the force is not in the position I expected them to be in.

"Not enough has been done and there is simply no excuse - North Yorkshire Police have let the public and the most vulnerable in our society down.

"As commissioner and a mother of two children, one of whom is vulnerable and has complex needs I share the frustration, deep disappointment and upset many people will be feeling.

"I know that it is my responsibility to increase the accountability of and pressure on the chief constable, to demand answers and not accept anything other than immediate and significant improvement.

"The public rely on North Yorkshire Police to get their job right, which is to ultimately keep them safe and feeling safe. As commissioner, I expect to see a significant improvement when the inspectorate revisit at the end of 2023 - and I will continue to seek insight from victims of crime across our region.”

An online public meeting will be held at 1pm today (May 3), when the commissioner said she will publicly hold the chief constable to account for the "slow progress" the force has made.

The commissioner added: "If anyone living in North Yorkshire doesn’t feel confident or comfortable with the services offered by North Yorkshire Police, I want to know about it.

"Complaints and concerns can be expressed to my in-house complaints team, submitted as a question to be raised directly with myself or the chief constable in my regular online public meetings, discussed with me in a one-to-one bookable appointment, or submitted via my Public Trust and Confidence Survey."