The latest inspection report of Youth Offending work in England and Wales was published today.

Julie Fox, Assistant Chief Inspector, said:

“This Core Case Inspection of youth offending work in Lambeth took place as part of the Inspection of Youth Offending programme. We have examined a representative sample of youth offending cases from the area, and have judged how often the Public Protection and the Safeguarding aspects of the work were done to a sufficiently high level of quality.

“We judged that the Safeguarding aspects of the work were done well enough 50% of the time. With the Public Protection aspects, work to keep to a minimum each individual’s Risk of Harm to others was done well enough 42% of the time, and the work to make each individual less likely to reoffend was done well enough 52% of the time. A more detailed analysis of our findings is provided in the main body of the report, and summarised in a table in Appendix 1. These figures can be viewed in the context of our findings from Wales and the regions of England inspected so far – see the Table below.

“It is important to set these findings in the context in which Lambeth YOS operates. Many cases had complex and diverse needs; particularly those linked to serious youth violence and required a high level of intensive work. The YOS was working with children and young people who were both potential perpetrators and victims. While this was not unique, few YOTs have to deal with the volume of
complex cases including serious youth violence. For this borough the implications of not taking appropriate action could be significant and the demands on staff were considerable as a result.

“We found a number of areas where practice fell below what was needed. In particular, the quality of assessments required improvement, so that in each case there is a very clear understanding of the risks of harm, reoffending and vulnerability and to ensure appropriate plans are produced, followed and reviewed.

“Overall, we consider this a poor set of findings; however, we did find examples of intensive and effective work that had contributed to keeping children and young people safe. We are hopeful that the contents of this report will provide a focus for the Management Board to achieve improvements.”

	Scores from Wales and the English regions that have been inspected to date			Scores for Lambeth
	Lowest	Highest	Average
‘Safeguarding’ work (action to protect the young person)	37%	91%	68%	50%
‘Risk of Harm to others’ work (action to protect the public)	36%	85%	63%	42%
‘Likelihood of Reoffending’ work (individual less likely to reoffend)	43%	87%	71%	52%

 

Download this press release (PDF, 70 kB) (PDF)

Notes to editors

1. The report is available at www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmi-probation/index.htm.
2. This Inspection of Youth Offending (IYO) programme started in April 2009. Youth Offending work in all 158 areas of England & Wales will be inspected over the course of a three-year cycle.
3. Julie Fox can be contacted on julie.fox@hmiprobation.gsi.gov.uk (E-mail address) and 07973 264412.