County Durham Youth Justice Service (YJS) has received an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’ following an inspection by HM Inspectorate of Probation.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “County Durham Youth Justice Service has both the capacity and skill, but they need to improve the quality of work with children under their supervision. On too many occasions we found issues of risk to a child’s safety and wellbeing, or the risk of harm they may present to other people, were not being given enough attention. We know the service is committed to making improvements and we look forward to watching them develop.”

This inspection found that both managers and youth justice workers are experienced and knowledgeable, but that there is a lack of scrutiny and challenge, by the management board, to ensure that a high level of work is being delivered.

Good quality work was evident in cases where children are leaving custody. The quality of resettlement work – plans to ensure children have accommodation and other services – was rated separately as ‘Outstanding’.

In contrast, we found that out-of-court disposal work – where children are diverted from the criminal justice system – was disappointing. The report acknowledges that the service supervises a number of children with trauma and damaging life experiences, but the complex needs of the children are not being addressed through the work being delivered, despite the service’s ambitions and intentions.

This inspection report makes nine recommendations, for an improvement programme for this service.

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. Youth offending services work with children aged 10 to 17 and 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). It also rated the quality of resettlement work as ‘Outstanding’.
4. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 03 November 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 August 2022.
7. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications Diane Bramall media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)