Inspection of Youth Offending work in Wandsworth

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 Wandsworth 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 we 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 58% 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 47% the time, and the work to make each individual less likely to reoffend was done well enough 64% the time. A more detailed analysis of our findings is provided in the main body of this 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.

“Overall, we consider this a moderate set of findings. Performance on work to manage Risk of Harm to others and to address Safeguarding for children and young people required substantial improvement. In particular, the approach of the YOS to ensuring effective management oversight of these critical aspects of practice needed attention. We were pleased to see that tasks such as assessments and interventions were being completed, but the focus now needed to be on improving the quality of work undertaken.

“We were encouraged that the YOS had already recognised these concerns and were taking steps to address them. We have confidence that the recommendations from this inspection will be implemented by Wandsworth YOS, and result in an improved service to both children and young people and the community.”

Scores from Wales and the English regions that have been inspected to date Scores for Wandsworth
Lowest Highest Average
‘Safeguarding’ work (action to protect the young person) 37% 91% 68% 58%
‘Risk of Harm to others’ work (action to protect the public) 36% 85% 63% 47%
‘Likelihood of Reoffending’ work (individual less likely to reoffend) 43% 87% 71% 64%

Download this press notice (PDF, 275 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.