East Sussex 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: “The leaders at East Sussex YJS have worked constructively to build a clear vision and carve out a roadmap to help children live their best crime-free lives and thrive. Feedback is sought from children, parents, and carers and this is actively used to improve service delivery.”

Inspectors were impressed by the partnership services available to help children desist from offending, with proactive education workers supporting children’s education, training, and employment needs before and after turning 16 years old. The report also praises the service’s work to tackle disproportionality. Children can access a range of mentors, and LGBT+ children are able to get support through the Allsorts youth project.

However, the report found the quality of work linked to planning for children’s safety and their potential to cause harm to others to be variable; and inspectors noted that across court and out-of-court work the systems and processes to keep children and others safe were not always understood by all staff.

Mr Jones added: “East Sussex YJS must ensure its work to protect children and others is more consistent. Overall, staff and the leadership team at East Sussex YJS can rightly celebrate the work that it carries out and I look forward to watching the service improve further.”

The report makes three recommendations to East Sussex YJS, including to ensure management oversight is consistently effective in reviewing activities, so practitioners can be clear about what they need to improve. The report also makes one recommendation to East Sussex Police – that they review the police YJS referral form so that it pays more attention to diversity and trauma.

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 17 September 2024 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 June 2024.
7. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)