Coventry Youth Justice Service (YJS) has received an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “Coventry Youth Justice Service is committed and passionate – their dedication to children under their supervision, exemplary in almost every area of their work, was clear to see – despite the challenges of an inner-city environment. Reducing the likelihood of reoffending is for the benefit of the local community as much as it is for each child supervised by the service – and they are given every opportunity to change and flourish.”

Inspectors were particularly impressed that the views of each child, and their parents, are integrated routinely into how the service will manage their supervision. This goes up to management board level, where the voice of a children’s ‘shadow’ board – known as Through our Eyes – is influential in how the service is organised.

We were also impressed by the management of children who have been in court, finding that each child is consistently assessed as to whether they would benefit from services from YJS partners, such as health, education, social care, exploitation prevention and substance misuse. The service’s work in meeting the diverse needs of children, was another example of the excellent work being done.

Children who are subject to out-of-court assessments and interventions are equally well looked after – services are tailored and managed to an outstanding level. This high-quality work was also evident in how the YJS is planning for the future – and inspectors noted that they have a clear, long-term vision for how they will develop further.

The report makes five recommendations to Coventry YJS, including that they should aim to make their workforce, and management board, more representative of the demographic of the city, and improve the management of children where a high risk to wellbeing and of harm to others is identified.

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). It also rated the quality of resettlement work as ‘Good’.
4. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 21 February 2023 00.01.
5. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
6. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in November 2022.
7. For media enquiries, please contact media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)