Northumberland youth justice service (YJS) has received an overall rating of ‘Good’ following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell said “Northumberland YJS is going the extra mile to help children under their supervision to change their behaviour, recognise the impact they are having on victims of crime and deter them away from reoffending. While some improvements can be made, we saw a service that is enthusiastic about giving children the opportunity to move away from a life of crime and get back into the community.”

Inspectors were impressed by the whole-family approach to tackle reoffending and planning is co-designed with children with realistic and achievable targets, and this was having a positive impact on tackling repeat offending or poor behaviours. In turn, the service is working with victims of crime – known as restorative justice – to assist children in reflecting on their actions and repairing relationships with victims.

Our inspection found that processes to keep children safe and prevent them from causing harm to others was mixed. Inspectors found delays in case managers responding effectively to new information from and about children and practitioners did not always respond appropriately to changes linked to safety and wellbeing, for example, changes in their personal relationships.

This report makes two recommendations to the Northumberland Youth Justice Service, including ensuring robust contingency plans are in place for all children which addresses their safety, wellbeing, and risk of harm to others. The report makes two further recommendations to Northumberland’s Youth Justice Service Management board.

 Notes to editor

1. This service works with children aged 10 to 17. 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).
4. The report is available on HM Inspectorate of Probation website: 00:01 19 July 2023.