The probation service, also known as a Probation Delivery Unit (PDU*), in Derby City has been rated as ‘Requires improvement’ following an inspection by HM Inspectorate of Probation.

This inspection is one of two carried out in the Probation Service – East Midlands region recently. The second is Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PDU, which received an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’ (also published on 09 February 2023).

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “Derby City probation service certainly has promise, but we found significant areas for improvement. While their efforts to work positively with people on probation were impressive, this was undermined by our concerns around whether they properly assess the risks that people on probation may pose to people they know or in the local and wider community.”

Inspectors wanted to see if risk of harm was being monitored sufficiently but found that it wasn’t. For example, it wasn’t clear if checks about the risk of harm a person may pose during unpaid work punishments – often allocated to those serving community sentences – were being made or considered.

However, the inspection did find a good range of services available to people on probation, such as schemes to prevent homelessness and specialist services for women. Staff at the PDU told us they were happy with how the service is led but were feeling the impact that high caseloads were having on their ability to provide expert supervision – a theme the Inspectorate has found, nationally, in the past year. We acknowledge that the service has prioritised the recruitment and training of new probation officers over the past months and that any positive impact on workloads will take time.

Mr Russell continued: “We want to see potential risks of harm properly identified and minimised at Derby City PDU, and for probation officers to feel confident to use their professional curiosity and insight to help protect the public and work effectively with people on probation. The service demonstrated a strong desire to develop, and we look forward to seeing how they progress in the future.”

Derby City PDU, and their East Midlands regional service, received eight recommendations following this inspection. This included to ensure that any potential disproportionality in the quality of service delivery to people on probation from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds is identified and tackled.

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. This probation service sits within the Probation Service – North East region.
3. These reports are available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 09 February 2023 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 these inspections took place in November 2022.
7. For media enquiries, please contact media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)