Sutton 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: “It is a mixed picture for Sutton YJS, following our inspection. On the one hand, their staff are impressive, understand the children under their supervision, and are doing all they can to help them build better lives. On the other hand, the service has areas of their work that requires improvement. However, they are aware of these current shortcomings, and demonstrated to our inspectors that they have the drive and capacity to change and progress.”

Inspectors praised Sutton YJS’ work with children under their supervision – delivering education, training and employment opportunities, and speech and language therapies, which were having a positive effect on the children.

However, the inspection noted that some key areas of Sutton YJS’ work – such as keeping others safe – was not always done as well as expected. For example, we found the service is not always identifying and addressing risk – particularly a child’s potential to commit offences other than the type that led them to the YJS’ supervision – and this is a risk to the public and potential victims that needs to be addressed.

During the inspection fieldwork, some board members and partnership managers had difficulty in setting out their vision for the YJS specifically. But, importantly, the broader focus on anti-racist practice and disproportionality across the borough is understood across the partnership. We have made seven recommendations, from this inspection, which we hope will enable the YJS and the management board to develop an even better service for children.

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. Sutton YJS work with children aged 10 to 17. The majority of children under their supervision are aged 15 to 17 (78%), male (88%) and white (63%). 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 ‘Requires improvement’.
4. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 06 September 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 March 2022.
7. For media enquiries, please contact media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)