Suffolk Youth Justice Service (YJS) has received an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’ following a joint inspection, led by HM Inspectorate of Probation. Joint inspections are undertaken with colleagues from the police, social care, education and health sector.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “We had a number of areas of concern about Suffolk Youth Justice Service, not least that the services available to children – to improve their lives and steer them away from crime – were inconsistent. We did find positive work with children coming out of custody, such as finding them accommodation, but it’s clear that improvements are needed across the board.”

This inspection found that, in too many cases, there was not enough focus on children’s safety and wellbeing or the risk they may pose to others. In addition, we found health and social care help was missing for a number of children who had been in custody, and this had resulted in missed opportunities to support them at the earliest possible stage after release.

Inspectors commended the positive work the service is doing in response to the criminal exploitation of children in the area. They run local hubs and have staff available, when such crimes occur, to offer quick and effective support to children.

The report acknowledges that Suffolk YJS supervises more children than the national average, and this places extra demands on local services. It has also been through a period of significant change, with a high turnover of staff which has, in part, affected the service’s work.

The report makes nine recommendations to Suffolk YJS, including that they need to improve planning to better understand the underlying factors driving each child’s offending and their safety and wellbeing needs, as well as the risk of harm that they pose to others.

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. Suffolk YJS work with children aged 10 to 17. They 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 ‘Good’.
4. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 18 January 2023 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 May 2022.

For media enquiries, please contact media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)