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 Derby City 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 65% 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 62% the time, and the work to make each individual less likely to re-offend was done well enough 69% 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 an encouraging set of findings. We found committed staff, who were working hard during a challenging time in the YOS’s history. We are confident that if the recommendations in this report are implemented, the improvement required can be achieved and sustained.”

Notes to editors

1. Read the report (PDF, 605 kB)
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. Andy Smith can be contacted on andy.smith@hmiprobation.gsi.gov.uk (E-mail address) and 07771 527327