It could be any office. Industrial carpet, garish lighting, ugly furniture, the click of keyboards and trill of phones.
Yet the work going on in this unassuming space is breaking new ground in safeguarding children. Tucked away behind the gleaming, modern entrance of Hertfordshire Police headquarters in Welwyn Garden City in one of a jumble of shabbier, older buildings, it is the base for a new Joint Child Protection Investigation Team, bringing together police officers and social workers.
Hertfordshire already had good relationships and communication between social services and police, according to Ross Williams, the council's head of assessment services, children's safeguarding. But now there is no ringing round to track down the right person. When an urgent case comes in, officers and social workers are together on the spot to share vital information and discuss tactics. And they "can be out the door almost immediately", says Detective Chief Inspector Glen Channer, who leads the team.
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