Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake raises concerns after burglary report results in child safety investigation
The MP for Thirsk and Malton, Kevin Hollinrake, has contacted North Yorkshire Police after concerns were raised about the handling of a suspected burglary reported by one of his constituents.
Mr Hollinrake was consulted by a family in his constituency after a police visit to their home.
The family had reported an attempted burglary after finding evidence of someone trying to access their property late in the evening.
Mr Hollinrake said: “While no suspect was identified and the burglary was not resolved, the police response quickly shifted away from investigating the crime itself.
“Instead, the attending officer carried out an intrusive safeguarding check late at night, including entering bedrooms, inspecting the home and submitting a Public Protection Notice regarding the family’s children.
“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.
“Based on the circumstances described to me, I do not believe this response was proportionate or appropriate, particularly given the lack of any evidence of risk to the children involved.
“This is exactly the sort of behaviour that deters law-abiding people from reporting crime. If victims believe that calling the police will result in their home being scrutinised and their family assessed rather than the offence being investigated, they will simply stop coming forward. That is corrosive to public trust and fundamentally undermines policing by consent.
“I am particularly concerned that this conduct appears to be defended as routine and procedural. If this reflects current policy or training within North Yorkshire Police, then that policy urgently requires review.
“I have written to North Yorkshire Police to raise serious concerns about this incident, the justification provided and the broader implications for public confidence in policing.”
In response, Catherine Clarke, Assistant Chief Constable for Local Policing & Safeguarding for North Yorkshire Police released a statement which is reproduced in full below:
North Yorkshire Police has 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. We are also highlighting the responsibility of policing to identify when a child’s welfare may be at risk and when they may need protection from harm, including inside or outside the home and online.
The Police are a statutory safeguarding partner, as defined by The Care Act 2004, the Children & Social Work Act 2017 and statutory guidance provided by Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023. A 2009 Serious Case Review into the death of Baby P concluded that multiple agencies, including the Police, were criticised for failing to display professional curiosity during various visits to his home and a lack of information sharing. North Yorkshire Police therefore strives to ensure that all our officers and staff understand that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
Our officers are trained to spot a range of welfare concerns which they may encounter in their day-to-day duties. It is right that when our officers see something that potentially raises a concern for the welfare or wellbeing of any child, they raise this via a Public Protection Notice (PPN). A PPN is a referral into a specialist Police safeguarding team that works in partnership with other statutory agencies, including health and social care, to assess if vulnerable persons, including children, require safeguarding.
Their role includes checking any previous police reports or PPNs relating to children or family and whether the family has any known involvement with social care. A PPN itself is not a social services referral.
In this instance, a North Yorkshire Police officer attended a property in response to reports that there may have been an attempt to burgle the address. The officer followed appropriate lines of enquiry to enable an investigation to follow. Whilst at the address, the officer became concerned about the living conditions and possible health implications for children living there and, in line with their training, displayed appropriate professional curiosity to explore their concerns.
The officer checked on the children in person as they are trained to do, before submitting a balanced PPN explaining their concerns about living conditions and possible health implications, but also stating the children appeared well cared for.
Any officer submitting a PPN would not be aware if children were already known to social care. The PPN process exists so that such concerns can be logged and reviewed by those with access to wider information.
Our officer did the right thing in this circumstance and this is an example of the safeguarding system working as intended. The officer correctly identified and documented a possible concern, raising it for our specialist safeguarding team to review.
We have engaged with the family to support the understanding of why our officer took this action.
We fully appreciate that Police Officers asking questions about the welfare of children may feel intrusive, however we would never apologise for taking a child-centred approach and for being proactive in ensuring that the wellbeing of children is protected.
All of our 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.