As of the beginning of May 2019, more than 900 police officers and staff have now completed the ACE training. An additional 180 staff from partner agencies have also completed the training. Alongside this, local authorities have been notified of more than 700 occurrences involving 1238 children since the implementation of Operation Encompass in March.

Early intervention projects are now live in Newport and Blaenau Gwent.  This includes strengthening existing Safeguarding Hub in Newport and piloting a new approach in Blaenau Gwent where a Detective Sergeant is co-located with Social Services. There are now plans to include education and health resources as part of the Early Help projects.  

Bespoke ‘lunch and learn’ workshops are being delivered to nearly 300 frontline officers, CSO’s and Supervisors in the two pathfinder areas, aiming to improve the quality of PPN’s, increase knowledge of safeguarding thresholds and embedding referral pathways to the Early Help Projects. These workshops are being jointly delivered by police and social services. We have already had positive feedback from Social Services around an improvement in PPN quality.

From July 2019, a Safeguarding Social Worker will be placed within the Force Control Room on a trial basis. This role will provide ‘live time’ tactical advice to support officers on the ground in relation to safeguarding and vulnerability issues.

Pupil Voice consultations are now complete at two pathfinder schools. As a result of these consultations, work is underway to develop an alternative Policing offer for schools. Including the Heddlu Bach initiative, we will now have provision at stages 2, 3 and 4 which will culminate in learners from the school being part of the #NXTGEN project, which will involve them working towards level 2 BTEC qualification in leadership and personal responsibility.

The Gwent ACEs team are pleased to introduce Superintendent Paul Staniforth as the new project lead for the Force. Paul said, “I’m really pleased to be leading the ACEs team who are working hard in a number of key areas to delivering the project. In my new role, I aim to focus on consistency of delivery across the 5 local authority areas, as well as looking at further collaboration and sustainability moving forward”.