Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) has received an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’ following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. This is the first inspection of this PDU since it was established under the unification of probation services in 2021.

Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “We were deeply concerned to find major issues with the leadership of this PDU and the quality of work it was delivering. Leaders were paying nowhere near enough attention to the quality of risk assessments and management plans, and the systems and processes that should have been controlling that quality were having no effect in practice. As a result, practitioners were often not accurately and sufficiently identifying the risk people on probation posed to others in their lives and communities.”

Senior Probation Officers (SPOs) were overstretched and unable to carry out their duties effectively, and we were alarmed that some were managing caseloads and completing assessments on behalf of practitioners due to high vacancy rates. Senior leaders both locally and nationally had not acted quickly or decisively enough in addressing a strategy for returning to a sustainable service level and, as a result, practitioners had insufficient time to properly analyse risk and deliver constructive work.

The inspection also found poor practice in relation to safeguarding children and managing the risk of domestic abuse, with far too many assessments based on incomplete or missing information and lacking sufficient depth to protect vulnerable people from harm.

In contrast, the report highlights that work at the PDU to engage with people on probation was well established thanks to the recruitment of peer mentors and ongoing engagement with people with lived experience of the criminal justice system.  Leaders had also built strong strategic and operational links with the police, with good levels of communication and collaboration on casework and relationships that supported information sharing.

Mr Jones added: “Some of the staff we met were passionate about their work and committed to supporting people to change. That was to their great credit, especially considering the challenges they have been facing. However, there is a great deal to be done to steer this PDU back to an acceptable level of service.”

The report makes four recommendations to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough PDU, including to devise a strategy for returning to a sustainable level of service and to ensure actual and potential victims are sufficiently protected through partnership work with other agencies such as the police and children’s social care services.

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. Cambridge and Peterborough PDU is one of eight PDUs in the East of England region.
3. The report is available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 18 July 2024.
4. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth justice 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 this inspection took place in April 2024.
7. For media enquiries, please contact Louise Cordell, Head of Communications 07523 805224 / media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)