Inspection of Youth Offending work in North Lincolnshire

The latest inspection report of Youth Offending work in England and Wales was published today.
Julie Fox, Assistant Chief Inspector, said:

“This Core Case Reinspection of youth offending work in North Lincolnshire 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 84% 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 81% the time, and the work to make each individual less likely to reoffend was done well enough 83% 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.

“The reinspection was necessary because in the last inspection we found that action to protect the child or young person and the public and work delivered to individuals so that they were less likely to reoffend was insufficient.

“We found that the YOS had made significant efforts to implement the improvement plan submitted to us in February 2011 and, as a result, the overall performance is much stronger. The quality assurance systems now in place had ensured that in most cases relevant assessments, plans and reviews were undertaken and the majority were sufficient. These results reflect the Management Board’s commitment to the process of improvement and the YOS management team’s focus on quality and management oversight. All staff had worked hard to improve the quality of work.

“Overall, we consider this a very creditable set of findings, and believe that the foundations for sustained improvement are in place.”

Scores from Wales and the English regions that have been inspected to date Scores for North Lincolnshire
Lowest Highest Average
‘Safeguarding’ work (action to protect the young person) 37% 91% 67% 84% (37%)
‘Risk of Harm to others’ work (action to protect the public) 36% 86% 62% 81% (46%)
‘Likelihood of Reoffending’ work (individual less likely to reoffend) 43% 87% 70% 83% (43%)

Download a copy of this press release (PDF, 279 kB) (PDF)

Notes to editors

  1. The report is available at www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmi-probation/.
  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.