Harrow Youth Justice Service (YJS) has received an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’ following an inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “The impact of Covid-19 on Harrow YJS cannot be underestimated. At the time of our inspection, the service was without a stable location – their base at the Civic Centre not being deemed safe due to the pandemic. However, staff are dedicated and many areas of their work – particularly around diversity – show promise.

“We were disappointed to find inconsistent attendance by the management board – who need to better advocate for the service – and have made recommendations to address this.

Our overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’ reflects these challenges and, hopefully, provides a platform for further progress.”

Harrow YJS work with children aged 10 to 17. The majority of children under their supervision are aged 15 to 17 (78%) and male (88%). The YJS supervise children with complex needs and some in the care of the local authority (Looked After Children).

The inspection looked at standards of organisational delivery (leadership, staffing and facilities), their management of children serving court sentences (court disposals) and children serving cautions or community resolutions (out-of-court disposals).

The majority of children at Harrow YJS are black, Asian or minority ethnic (73%), and inspectors thought the service was showing promise in their work to address disproportionality and diversity. The children interviewed as part of the inspection were positive about their experiences at Harrow and felt that they, and their parents or carers, have meaningful involvement in how their sentence or caution/resolution is managed.

Mr Russell added: “Harrow YJS understands the children they work with – they are dedicated to learning, use a trauma-informed approach, are well-resourced and staff workloads are manageable. However, when it comes to implementing and delivering interventions the service needs to work more collaboratively by strengthening relationships with their strategic partners and use data they hold to inform their direction.”

Inspectors found the management board was not functioning as well as it could, and concluded that better leadership and governance at Harrow YJS would likely kick-start the improvements required.

Mr Russell explains: “Harrow YJS needs to have more influence over how interventions for children under their supervision are managed. This starts with a board that operates effectively – we have recommended they address inconsistent attendance by members who are not of appropriate seniority.”

This inspection made nine recommendations, including that the partnership board better advocate on behalf of the children at Harrow YJS, ensure consistent attendance at management board level, and boost specialist provision for YJS children with speech, language and communication needs.

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. The report is available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 10 December 2021 00.01.
2. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
3. The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’. The Inspectorate rates specific aspects of each service and also gives an overall rating.
4. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in August 2021.
5. For media enquiries, please contact Corporate Communications Manager Diane Bramall 07929 790 564 or media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)