The police will act immediately if, at any point during the investigation, a child is considered to be at risk and in need of protection.

The police will run two types of checks on the individual that you have concerns about:

Priority checks
The purpose of these checks is to establish if there are any immediate issues of concern about the safety of a child and to take appropriate action. If the police believe children need protecting, they will take immediate action. No disclosure of information will take place at this stage.

A full risk assessment
The police will run more detailed checks and work with other agencies including Social Work Services and those agencies involved in local Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements ( MAPPA). The full risk assessment should be completed within 10 working days of contacting the police. They will work as quickly as possible to complete the checks but, in rare circumstances, some checks may take longer for the results to be received.
The maximum target time it should take to complete the enquiries, including possible disclosure to the applicant, is six weeks but even then there may be some delays due to factors beyond the control of the police.
The police will act immediately if at any point during the investigation a child is considered to be at risk and in need of protection.

Step 5

The police will contact the parent or guardian once the priority checks and a full risk assessment have been completed. Careful consideration will be given as to what further action should be taken.
They will either:
a) contact the parent/guardian in person (the police will visit you, or invite you to the station); or
b) contact the parent/guardian by letter (this will only happen if there is no information to be provided and you have previously agreed to be contacted by letter).