Swansea Neath Port Talbot Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) has received an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’ following an inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’, and rates specific aspects of each service as well as an overall rating.

This is the first PDU inspection under our new probation inspection methodology, introduced following the merging of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (NPS) into a single unified Probation Service in June 2021. Swansea Neath Port Talbot PDU sits within the Probation Service – Wales region.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “In Wales, aspects of unification occurred in December 2019 and so there has been longer for some parts of the new model to be embedded. However, within three months, services were affected by Covid-19, limiting both access to offices and face-to-face contact with people on probation.

“In Swansea Neath Port Talbot PDU, this was further compounded by the discovery of asbestos in the central probation office in April 2021, from where virtually all services were delivered, and the building could no longer be used. The impact of these events cannot be underestimated and has, in part, resulted in the ‘Inadequate’ rating.”

The inspection noted that staff and managers have been forced to provide a limited service, since March 2020, and gave credit to service leaders for their innovative and determined approach to finding alternative premises to continue their work. Inspectors also noted that partnership working was a strength and some new initiatives were encouraging.

Mr Russell added: “Unfortunately, the efforts made by Swansea Neath Port Talbot PDU’s managers could not prevent the shortfalls we found in casework. The quality of work with people on probation was weak and this had a knock-on effect in other areas of our inspection – ongoing Covid-19 restrictions call for a need to prioritise the risk a person on probation poses and public safety, but we saw limited examples of this.”

The inspection reported on specific areas of Swansea Neath Port Talbot PDU’s work. It found that, while the management of higher risk people on probation or those who had left prison was consistently better than for medium risk or those on community orders, overall work was assessed as ‘Inadequate’ and recommendations were made to address this.

Swansea Neath Port Talbot PDU is not alone in their struggle to deliver accredited

programmes and unpaid work, but despite substantial efforts, more than one-third of unpaid work orders were still outstanding at the time of this inspection and three-quarters of accredited programmes had yet to start.

Mr Russell concluded: “I know Swansea Neath Port Talbot PDU will be disappointed with this rating, given the effort they have made which was evident throughout this inspection. I call on the Probation Service – Wales region, and central teams, to provide them with the support and assistance they need if they are to truly recover from Covid-19 and improve the quality of their work.”

This inspection made nine recommendations, including: for the PDU to explore the reasons for better casework in those cases on post-release licence and use this learning to improve effectiveness elsewhere, and explore the reasons for worse casework in those cases assessed as medium risk of harm. To HM Prison and Probation (HMPPS), the Inspectorate has recommended a resolution be found to the current shortfall in accredited programme delivery and ensure that the delivery of interventions offered as an alternative are effectively quality assured.

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. The report is available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 20 January 2022 00.01.
2. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
3. 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.
4. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in October 2021.
5. For media enquiries, please contact Corporate Communications Manager Diane Bramall 07929 790 564 or media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)