Birmingham North, East and Solihull Probation Delivery Unit (PDU)* has received an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’ following an inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “It is at the heart of the work of any probation service to fully support the people on probation and to protect the public. Unfortunately, this support is not being delivered by Birmingham North, East and Solihull PDU. Whilst staffing levels are broadly on target and a comprehensive range of services were potentially available, the quality of casework we inspected was disappointing.”

“Attention is required to improve the quality of supervision being provided by probation staff, including in their work with women on probation. Our inspection findings set out what must be done for the service to improve, in order to help those they supervise change their lives for the better and protect the local community.”

Inspectors acknowledged the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and recent unification of private and public sector probation services in the West Midlands, noting the challenges of having to re-allocate over 4,000 cases to different teams and integrate 60 staff after the central Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) office was shut down. It was noted that these structural changes exacerbated the weak performance already present in the PDU. As a result, sentence management across the board was rated as ‘Inadequate’. Although there were signs of improvement, Inspectors found that some cases were still not being managed effectively – especially in the service’s work to protect both victims and potential victims.

Unlike some of the local services recently inspected, the staffing levels in Birmingham North, East and Solihull are generally in line with their target figures. Inspectors recognised that the staff were representative of the local community in terms of ethnicity and were pleased by the emphasis on mentoring staff from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. However, it was noted that the blending of home and office-based working (as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic) has negatively impacted working relationships between staff, with new and inexperienced colleagues not receiving the necessary support.

HM Inspectorate of Probation have made eight recommendations as a result of this inspection. Five of the recommendations were aimed at changes at a local level, calling on Birmingham North, East and Solihull to improve their quality of work around risk of harm and their sentence management for women. The remaining three recommendations were for the Probation Service – West Midlands region and Her Majesty Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).

ENDS

 Notes to editor

1. *Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) replaced Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (NPS), which merged into a unified Probation Service in June 2021.
2. Birmingham North, East and Solihull Probation Service PDU sits within the Probation Service – West Midlands region.
3. The report is available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 18 August 2022 00.01.
4. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
5. 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.
6. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in June 2022.
7. For media enquiries, please contact media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)