News Beat
Police chief stands by officer in Kevin Hollinrake row
The force’s assistant chief constable for local policing and safeguarding, Catherine Clarke, said the officer followed “appropriate lines of inquiry” when they visited the family home following an alleged attempted burglary last November.
Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake demanded the force apologises to the family in his constituency after he said police organised an “intrusive” child welfare check without “clear legal justification”.
But Ms Clarke said the force would “never apologise for taking a child-centred approach and for being proactive in ensuring that the wellbeing of children is protected”.
Ms Clarke said the officer “became concerned about the living conditions and possible health implications for children living there” while at the address.
The police chief said the officer “checked on the children in person as they are trained to do”, then submitted a Public Protection Notice (PPN). A PPN is a referral into a specialist police safeguarding team that works in partnership with other agencies, such as social services, to assess if vulnerable people, including children, require safeguarding.
Ms Clarke said all North Yorkshire Police officers and the public “should be able to raise a welfare concern where appropriate for it to be properly assessed by qualified professionals”. “We would encourage this to ensure the most vulnerable in society remain protected from harm.”
It comes after Mr Hollinrake wrote to the police force, saying: “The police were invited to the property to investigate an alleged crime.
“Their role is not to make subjective judgements about lifestyle, cleanliness, parenting or family circumstances.
“The suggestion that an officer attending a burglary report should assess ‘odour’, ‘hygiene’ or the general state of a private home and escalate this into a safeguarding referral represents a serious failure of judgement and a troubling expansion of police role beyond its proper remit.”
The Conservative MP also claimed the police action was “exactly the sort of behaviour” that deters law-abiding people from reporting crime.
“I am particularly concerned that this conduct appears to be defined as routine and procedural,” he said in a follow-up letter to the force.
“If this reflects current policy or training within North Yorkshire Police, then that policy urgently requires review.”
Ms Clarke said the force has “engaged with the family to support the understanding of why our officer took this action”.
North Yorkshire Police has also been in contact with Mr Hollinrake to “offer clarification in relation to his comments that a police response to a reported burglary and subsequent child welfare check was not proportionate or appropriate”, Ms Clarke said.
