Inspection of Youth Offending work in Northamptonshire
The latest inspection report of Youth Offending work in England and Wales was published today.
Andy Smith, Assistant Chief Inspector, said:
‘Our Core Case Inspection of youth offending work in Northamptonshire was undertaken as part of our Inspection of Youth Offending programme. This inspection focuses exclusively on the work undertaken by Youth Offending Teams with children and young people who have already committed an offence.
‘Its purpose is to assess if the work is of a sufficiently high standard to protect both the public from any harm resulting from the child or young person’s offending behaviour and the child or young person themselves, whether from their own behaviour or any other source.
‘The inspection is based on a rigorous examination of a representative sample of cases supervised by the Youth Offending Service. Our findings are shown in the table below, outlined against those for Wales and the regions of England inspected so far. A more detailed analysis is provided in the main body of this report, and summarised in a table in Appendix 1.
‘We saw many examples of good work being undertaken in Northamptonshire. The YOS had access to some excellent resources, and worked well with partner agencies. However there was a need to achieve a higher consistency of work across the whole county and improve assessment and planning, particularly in relation to Risk of Harm to others.
‘Overall, we consider this a creditable set of findings. The YOS and its staff were receptive to the inspection, and saw it as a genuine opportunity to improve practice, which augers well for the future.’
| Scores from Wales and the English regions that have been inspected to date | Scores for Northamptonshire | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | Highest | Average | ||
| ‘Safeguarding’ work (action to protect the young person) | 37% | 91% | 68% | 80% |
| ‘Risk of Harm to others’ work (action to protect the public) | 36% | 85% | 63% | 68% |
| ‘Likelihood of Reoffending’ work (individual less likely to reoffend) | 43% | 87% | 71% | 76% |
Download a copy of this press release (PDF, 314 kB) (PDF)
Notes to editors:
- Read the full report (PDF, 614 kB). (PDF)
- 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.
