A LEADING Bradford councillor has demanded an explanation from police after it was revealed one in ten referrals from other agencies, like child protection, were not recorded as crimes.

Inspectors at the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary looked at 108 reports referred to West Yorkshire Police through other agencies and found that, of 27 crimes that should have been recorded, only three actually had been.

The report stated: "As some of these records relate to sexual offences and assaults on vulnerable adults and children, this is a serious cause for concern and is a matter of urgent importance."

Councillor Ralph Berry, in charge of children and young people's services, said he would be demanding answers from West Yorkshire Police, and the Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson.

He said: "This is extremely serious and we clearly need urgent investigations into it. I have demanded an explanation from officers.

"There will have to be some very urgent inquiries. I can't think of anything more important and it needs to be clarified and resolved as quickly as possible."

Coun Berry said huge amounts of time and effort had been invested, as well as more money, into the issues of child sexual exploitation and grooming.

"We have got a nationally recognised and approved hub at Eccleshill which is doing very well. I am hugely respectful of the police in Bradford working in that area and their investigations are continuing. The quality of the joint police work is very high.

"But if there is a policy that is filtering out what's to be investigated as crimes, that's extremely serious. We need to ensure there is a consistency across all agencies."

Coun Berry said the Council's social work staff and other agencies were following agreed procedures so that referrals should be made, and at the same time people were being encouraged to make appropriate referrals. All staff were also being trained and there was liaison with schools.

He added: "I am more than concerned. We need to hear what the police and PCC have to say on this matter. We really need to know what's going on."

A spokesman for the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire, Mark Burns-Williamson, said he would be discussing the report with the Deputy Chief Constable next week.

After the report was published West Yorkshire Temporary Deputy Chief Constable John Robins said many of HMIC's recommendations related to issues the force had already identified and acted upon as part of its commitment to achieve the highest standards of crime and incident data quality.

“Since the audit, we have carried out a great deal of work and invested resources in this area, to get things right first time," he said.

“We recognise that improvements still need to be made in some areas and we are determined to ensure the quality of our data is of the highest standard."