Inspectors call for urgent improvements at Portsmouth YOT

The inspection report found Portsmouth YOT has serious failings in reducing reoffending, protecting the public and the effectiveness of management, with all three categories receiving a poor rating.

Inspectors from HM Inspectorate of Probation, Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and HMI Constabulary found reoffending work had suffered due to "longstanding individual performance problems" and the failure to appoint enough "competent case managers".

Interventions, although generally good, were not delivered often enough, largely due to inadequate planning and staff shortages.

Work to protect actual or potential victims of crime was affected by flawed assessment of their needs.

Governance oversight of core practice was also found to be poor. Critical to this was a failure by the YOT management board to tackle staffing problems and management of structures within the organisation.

Paul McDowell, chief inspector of probation, said work to manage risk and tackle reoffending was “worryingly poor”, and showed not enough had been done to address problems dating back to when Portsmouth YOT was formed in 2012.

He added: “The new YOT management board has been far too slow to address the previous inadequate performance and to ensure that the required structures and resources were in place to enable improvement to take place.

“As a result, the YOT continued to be beset by staffing difficulties that had a direct impact on the quality of practice. Further work is required to ensure that the board and its leadership are effective.”

Lin Hinnigan, chief executive of the Youth Justice Board (YJB), said: “It is clear from this inspection report that Portsmouth YOT has to make significant improvements in a number of important practice areas.

“In order to assist, staff from the YJB will be actively working with the YOT to develop and implement a post-inspection plan, which will address the shortcomings and help ensure the recommendations are fully implemented.”

The joint inspection found work to reduce young people’s vulnerability was satisfactory, with inspectors praising the YOT’s approach to managing cases close to the child protection threshold.

Ensuring sentences are served received a good rating, and inspectors noted encouraging signs the YOT recognised how it needed to improve the engagement of children and young people in the assessment and planning for sentences.

The report has a series of recommendations to improve management of the YOT, and also calls for a “full complement of competent case managers” to be in place urgently.