Inspectors have found Gloucestershire Youth Offending Service (YOS) has many strengths but needs to improve in a few aspects of its work.

HM Inspectorate of Probation conducted a routine inspection in autumn and looked at 12 aspects of the service’s work. Inspectors have given the YOS an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “Gloucestershire YOS is well-led. Its leaders work diligently to increase their understanding of the county’s children and young people, and to implement strategies to reduce their likelihood of offending.

“We found staff to be skilled and knowledgeable. They are motivated to work with children and young people to achieve the best outcomes for them.”

The service supervises 10 to 18-year-olds who have offended. Some are serving court sentences, while others are dealt with outside the formal justice system.

The YOS’s work with individuals who have been sentenced by a court came in for particular praise. The delivery of services with these children and young people received the highest rating of ‘Outstanding’.

Mr Russell said: “The YOS works effectively with partners to deliver a service that is tailored to the specific needs of the child or young person. It is the norm for this YOS to conduct home visits alongside specialists who can help individuals with issues such as mental health or substance misuse. This is balanced well with offence-related activity, such as work relating to knife crime.

“In most instances, the views and wishes of victims helped to shape the nature of the work undertaken. Children and young people also participated in a range of reparation activities, many of which helped to develop their skills or provide a constructive service to the community.”

Inspectors found a few areas for improvement at the YOS.

Each child or young person has a plan that sets out their individual needs and activities that will help them to move away from further offending. Inspectors found these plans should be more aligned to those of other agencies, such as child protection plans, to support efforts to keep children and young people safe.

Inspectors found the YOS’s IT system can be “slow and non-responsive”. Staff – who travel across the county to visit children and young people – do not have laptops and this can make timely record-keeping difficult.

The Inspectorate has also made a recommendation for children and young people who are being dealt outside the court system to be assessed more thoroughly.

Mr Russell said: “When staff assess cases for potential risks of harm, they need to dig deeper and consider the full context and pattern of behaviour.

“For example, in one inspected case, a young person was known to the YOS for possessing cannabis. However, he had a previous conviction and was known to carry a weapon. These details should be taken into consideration to ensure any potential risks of harm are managed safely.”

The Inspectorate has made seven recommendations with the aim of improving youth offending services in Gloucestershire and better protect the public.

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. The report is available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 28 January 2020 00.01.
2. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
3. Youth offending services supervise 10 to 18-year olds who have been sentenced by a court, or who have come to the attention of the police because of their offending behaviour but have not been charged and instead are dealt with out of court.
4. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in October 2019.
5. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications Catherine Chan on 07889 405930 or media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)