Inspection of Youth Offending work in Essex
The latest inspection report of Youth Offending work in England and Wales was published today.
Andy Smith, Assistant Chief Inspector, said:
‘This Core Case Inspection of youth offending work in Essex 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 73% 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 68% the time, and the work to make each individual less likely to reoffend was done well enough 77% 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.
‘Essex is a large area with a diverse population and the caseload of Essex YOS has grown increasingly complex. In this context, we found the performance of the YOS to be very encouraging. Management and staff were committed to improving outcomes for children and young people and embraced a multi-disciplinary approach using a range of thoughtful and sometimes innovative methods to help address offending behaviour.
‘There is scope, however, to improve practices, especially in relation to Risk of Harm and Safeguarding. We have made recommendations to reflect this and have confidence that Essex YOS will successfully implement them.’
| Scores from Wales and the English regions that have been inspected to date | Scores for Essex | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | Highest | Average | ||
| ‘Safeguarding’ work (action to protect the young person) | 37% | 91% | 67% | 73% |
| ‘Risk of Harm to others’ work (action to protect the public) | 36% | 86% | 62% | 68% |
| ‘Likelihood of Reoffending’ work (individual less likely to reoffend) | 43% | 87% | 70% | 77% |
Download a copy of this press release (PDF, 276 kB) (PDF 0.28mb)
Notes to editors:
- The report is available at www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmi-probation/ (PDF, 536 kB).
- 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.
- Andy Smith can be contacted on andy.smith@hmiprobation.gsi.gov.uk (E-mail address) and 07771 527327.
