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

Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, said: “Newcastle YJS have experienced considerable challenges and despite their ‘Requires improvement’ rating, the service is rapidly improving.”

The Inspectorate’s report found that challenges faced by the service have impacted their ability to deliver a consistent quality of service to children. These included an historic lack of succession planning, inconsistent approaches in management oversight, and high staff turnover. Positively, the report praises the current leadership team and partners, who have worked constructively to develop a clear vision for the service. Inspectors found evidence of innovation in participation with children, including the use of music therapy to increase emotional resilience.

Inspectors found the quality of work carried out regarding assessment and planning for children’s safety, wellbeing and, potential to cause to harm others to be variable, and that inconsistent attention was being paid to the needs of actual and potential victims. However, they were encouraged by the YJS’s recognition of these insufficiencies, which were particularly evident in court disposal work, which had led to the introduction of advice, guidance and new processes to develop practice in this area.

Mr Jones continued: “Newcastle YJS can be rightly proud of the progress it is making. With continued stability, and some changes made to service delivery, the service have what it takes to truly transform the lives of the children in its care.”

The Inspectorate’s report makes five recommendations. Three of these are for Newcastle YJS, including to improve and embed the quality of assessment and planning work to keep children safe, and one is for Northumbria Police, to review the police referral form provided to the out of-court decision-making panel so it pays explicit 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 18 February 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 November 2024.
7. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)