Britain’s biggest police force is still putting women and girls at risk by failing to manage sex offenders and properly care for victims, a damning report shows.

In one case, a high-risk sex offender had not been checked on since 2017, with no attempts to arrest the individual or issue a warrant, the review found.

Scotland Yard has spent the past two years in special measures yet has no crime prevention strategy and no plan to develop one, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found.

The force has a backlog of visits and risk assessments for offenders, and officers were not properly trained in managing suspects and the sex offenders’ register, inspectors said.

Meanwhile, too many visits to registered sex offenders were announced in advance, giving suspects time to hide devices that could indicate they were breaching the terms of their licence. 

Britain’s biggest police force is still putting women and girls at risk by failing to manage sex offenders and properly care for victims, a damning report shows

Scotland Yard has a backlog of visits and risk assessments for offenders, and officers were not properly trained in managing suspects and the sex offenders’ register, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found

The Metropolitan Police was placed in special measures in 2022 following a series of scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard.

The latest inspection graded the force’s performance across eight areas of policing and found it was adequate in just one area, inadequate in two and requiring improvement in five.

The watchdog found that the force had improved its response with the majority of 999 and 101 calls now answered quickly.

But inspectors also found that recruitment issues meant there were not enough officers or high enough experience levels to reach the standards expected.

It comes as figures from the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA) revealed that violent attacks on women and girls travelling on the railways have exploded by 50 per cent in two years.

Crimes against women and girls rose from 7,561 in 2021 to 11,357 in 2023, and sexual harassment cases doubled to 1,908. 

But a separate survey last year found only one in five people who witnessed sexual harassment reported it to the police.

The latest inspection graded the force’s performance across eight areas of policing and found it was adequate in just one area, inadequate in two and requiring improvement in five

The Metropolitan Police was placed in special measures in 2022 following a series of scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard