King's Award for city-born child support scheme

SCHEME SUPPORTS CHILD VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

- CARL EVE

A FORMER Devonport police sergeant and a Torpoint headteacher's scheme to support child victims of domestic abuse has been recognised by the King in his recent birthday honours - although they have said they wished the work they did was not necessary.

Operation Encompass, initially launched in 2011, was the brainchild of David Carney-Haworth and his wife, Elisabeth Carney-Haworth and it ensured that information gathered by police at the scene of a domestic incident where children were present was passed on to that child's school before 9am the following morning.

Since then, the scheme has won praise from education experts, ministers, domestic violence practitioners, child psychologists as well as police and crime commissioners.

By 2017, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary recommended that each police force take up the Plymouth-born scheme, saying it was... "an excellent example of sharing information between agencies to protect vulnerable children, because it involves forces working in collaboration with local authorities and nominated 'key adults' or contacts in schools."

In 2019, Operation Encompass won the overall prize at the very first World Class Policing award at a prestigious ceremony in London.