Inspectors disappointed at poor safeguarding in North Lincolnshire youth offending services
Neil Puffett
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Youth offending services in North Lincolnshire have been described as "extremely disappointing".
A report by HM Inspectorate of Probation found that work on safeguarding young offenders was deemed to be done well just 37 per cent of the time, while minimising each individual’s risk of harm to others was satisfactory 36 per cent of the time. The report calls for drastic improvements to be made.
Julie Fox, assistant chief inspector of probation, said: "Overall, we consider this an extremely disappointing set of findings, particularly in view of the recommendations around diversity, interventions, the assessment of risk of harm to others and vulnerability, made in the last inspection report published in January 2008.
"Recommendations in this current report repeat the emphasis on those areas while highlighting the need to address the quality of plans, victim safety, enforcement and management oversight.
"The management board was aware of the need to improve performance prior to the inspection and plans were already in place.
"We acknowledge the efforts made by the youth offending service to improve the quality of practice in recent months, however, we will reinspect in a year’s time."
