The number of YOTs subject to full inspections by the Probation Inspectorate will fall from more than 50 a year to just six from April. In addition, about 20 YOTs will be subject to a short "screening exercise each year", but the vast majority will not be inspected at all.
The current inspection regime has been criticised for failing to take into account the resources available to those working with young offenders.
Tim Bateman, criminologist at the University of Bedfordshire, says there have been concerns within offending teams that the existing inspection regime focuses too much on process rather than practice.
"People haven’t experienced it as particularly helpful and most of them aren’t really sure it necessarily reflects the quality of their work," he says.
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