Portsmouth Youth Offending Team (YOT) has received an overall rating of ‘Good’ following an inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “Portsmouth YOT has created an environment where children flourish, and they are doing all they can to help them lead better lives. In the face of the considerable challenges posed by Covid-19, staff at the YOT remain enthusiastic and eager to improve – they are creative and innovative in how they work with children and their parents or carers. I look forward to seeing how they develop further in the future.”

The report noted that the management board at Portsmouth YOT is relatively new but had quickly established a clear vision for the team and was working well with partners across the criminal justice system. This meant that, during the pandemic, partners – such as the local authority – understood  the importance of children having effective supervision throughout and supported the YOT to achieve this.

Inspectors did, however, report that the YOT needs a better understanding of the children in the service, particularly those who are disproportionately represented (girls and black and minority ethnic children). As a result, one of the four recommendations made to Portsmouth YOT is that they collect more data, and analyse this, in order to better tailor their services and improve the outcomes for every child under their supervision.

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. Portsmouth YJS work with children aged 10 to 17. The majority of children under their supervision are aged 15 to 17 (81%), male (86%) and white (71%). The YJS supervise children with complex needs and some in the care of the local authority.
2. The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’, rating specific aspects of each service and giving an overall rating.
3. 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 sentences (out-of-court disposals). We also inspected the quality of resettlement policy and provision, which was separately rated as ‘Good’.
4. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 21 June 2022 00.01.
5. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
6. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in January 2022.
7. For media enquiries, please contact Corporate Communications Manager Diane Bramall 07929 790 564 or media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)