Hertfordshire Youth Offending Team is doing ‘outstanding’ work with children and young people, according to an independent report out today.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation inspects youth offending and probation services across England and Wales. Inspectors found staff in Hertfordshire offered excellent support to children and young people to help them move away from crime and antisocial behaviour.

The Inspectorate has given the team an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ – the highest of four possible scores.

Hertfordshire has one of the largest youth offending services in England and the team handles the second-highest volume of cases of any service. Staff work with a mix of children and young people: some have offended and some receive other types of local authority support.

Inspectors found staff were doing their utmost to deliver a high-quality service, and had the interests of children and young people at heart.

Chief Inspector of Probation Dame Glenys Stacey said: “We were impressed by the skilled and committed staff in Hertfordshire’s youth offending team.

“The standard of their work was exceptionally high, particularly their work with children and young people who have been sentenced by the courts.

“Youth offending staff need to build trusting, challenging and supportive relationships with the children and young people they supervise. We were pleased to see this was the case in Hertfordshire, and that parents and carers were involved at every stage.”

The inspection focussed on three key areas: the organisation’s leadership and delivery of its services; work with children and young people sentenced by the courts; and work with those dealt with out of court, such as those receiving a caution.

Inspectors found the team offered a wide range of support services, including helping children and young people to access education and training.

The report identified a small number of areas for improvement. The Inspectorate recommends Hertfordshire Youth Offending Team plays a bigger part, with the police, in deciding how children and young people are dealt with outside the court system.

 

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Notes to editors:

1. The report is available at https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/at 00.01 on Thursday 20 September 2018.
2. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services in England and Wales.
3. We inspect services against published standards. We use a four-point scale to rate specific aspects of the service’s work and to give the service an overall rating. The ratings are: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
4. Fieldwork for the Hertfordshire inspection took place in July 2018.
5. For media enquiries please contact Catherine Chan, Head of Communications, on 07889 405930 or media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)