Derbyshire Youth Offending Service (YOS) has received an overall rating of ‘Good’ following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “Many of the children supervised by Derbyshire Youth Offending Service are from challenging backgrounds and have needs that go beyond addressing the offence they have committed. Staff at the service rise to these challenges and have a genuine aim to improve the lives of the children and protect the local community.”

The inspection found staff Derbyshire YOS work hard to understand children at the service, and their families. Services are tailored to each child’s needs – and this was proving successful in deterring children from committing further offences. The report commended the way the service works with its partners, too, but noted that it is yet to establish a permanent base in the south of the county, which meant a lack of facilities for children in that area.

Inspectors identified a need to address diversity. Notably, that there needs to be a better understanding of the needs of girls, who make up approximately 18 per cent of children at the service. We noted that, in one case, a girl who had experienced sustained male violence in her formative years was allocated a male case worker, and the service had not considered whether this was appropriate.

The report makes eight recommendations to Derbyshire YOS, including that they should improve their management board which needs to have a better understanding of the mental health needs of children supervised by the service. It also needs to increase the number of children attending school or receiving tailored educational support.

ENDS

 Notes to editor

Derbyshire YOS work with children aged 10 to 17. The majority of children under their supervision are aged 15 to 17, male and white, although girls and children from minority ethnic backgrounds are overrepresented in the service. The YJS supervise children with complex needs and some in the care of the local authority.

1. The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’, rating specific aspects of each service and giving an overall rating.
2. 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). It also rated the quality of resettlement work as ‘Good’.
3. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 28 September 2022 00.01.
4. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
5. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in May 2022.
6. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications Diane Bramall media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)