Inspection of Youth Offending work in Hertfordshire
The latest inspection report of Youth Offending work in England and Wales was published today.
Julie Fox, Assistant Chief Inspector, said:
‘This Core Case Inspection of youth offending work in Hertfordshire took place as part of the Inspection of Youth Offending programme. We have examined a representative sample of youth offending cases from the area, and we have judged how often the Public Protection and the Safeguarding aspects of the work were done to a sufficiently high level of quality.
‘We judged that the Safeguarding aspects of the work were done well enough 60% the time. With the Public Protection aspects, work to keep to a minimum each individual’s Risk of Harm to others was done well enough 49% the time, and the work to make each individual less likely to reoffend was done well enough 67% the time. A more detailed analysis of our findings is provided in the main body of this report, and summarised in a table in Appendix 1. These figures can be viewed in the context of our findings from Wales and the regions of England inspected so far.
‘Overall, Hertfordshire Youth Justice Service (YJS) performed reasonably well in this inspection. We found examples of creative, thoughtful case management and effective engagement with children and young people and families. However, the team had been through a period of significant transformation less than a year before the inspection, and was still at the ‘bedding in’ stage. In this context, we found there were a number of key areas of practice, especially in relation to Risk of Harm and Safeguarding that needed to be improved.
‘We are encouraged by the response of the YJS to our inspection findings and confident that it will take the necessary action to improve practices in Hertfordshire.’
Download a copy of this press release (PDF, 294 kB)
| Scores from Wales and the English regions that have been inspected to date | Scores for Hertfordshire | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | Highest | Average | ||
| ‘Safeguarding’ work (action to protect the young person) | 37% | 91% | 67% | 60% |
| ‘Risk of Harm to others’ work (action to protect the public) | 36% | 86% | 62% | 49% |
| ‘Likelihood of Reoffending’ work (individual less likely to reoffend) | 43% | 87% | 70% | 67% |
Notes to editors
- The report is available at www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmi-probation/.
- This Inspection of Youth Offending (IYO) programme started in April 2009. Youth Offending work in all 158 areas of England & Wales will be inspected over the course of a three-year cycle.
- Julie Fox can be contacted on julie.fox@hmiprobation.gsi.gov.uk (E-mail address) and 07973 264412.
