Norfolk 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, Martin Jones, said: “Norfolk YJS promotes a child-first and trauma-responsive service, and it was pleasing to see evidence of this in the work we inspected.”

Inspectors were impressed by the work to plan and deliver interventions in relation to children’s desistance, with case managers considering children’s strengths and aspirations as part of the planning. The wishes and needs of victims were reflected in plans and included victim awareness sessions. However, assessing for post-court orders was an area in need of development. Case managers did not always access information from other agencies to help analyse the risk of harm to others.

The inspection found the governance of Norfolk YJS to be strong, with an experienced independent chair of the management board, supported by board members with a good understanding of the work of the YJS and the challenges practitioners face. The health provision for YJS children was effective, and included a clinical psychologist, mental health practitioners, and substance misuse workers.

Mr Jones continued: “Despite some inconsistencies with post-court work, Norfolk YJS should be proud of their work. The staff were creative, motivated, and went above and beyond what was required to support children and encourage their development.”

This report makes five recommendations. Three of these are for the management board, including to understand the overrepresentation of care-experienced children and to review the work with victims. Two recommendations are for the Norfolk YJS head of service, including to put in place a framework to collate and analyse children’s participation and feedback to help influence future service policy and provision.

ENDS

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 the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 28 January 2025 at 00.01.
5. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth justice and probation services across England and Wales.
6. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in October 2024.
7. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)