Highly-rated youth offending service faces £500,000 cuts
Neil Puffett
Friday, June 23, 2017
One of the best performing youth offending services (YOS) in England and Wales is to undergo a full review to save £500,000.
Staffordshire's YOS was awarded 22 stars out of a potential 24 following an inspection by the Probation Inspectorate in June last year.
But Staffordshire Council said that as a result of falling caseload numbers, it is conducting a review in order to find savings.
A council report reveals that the total number of young people the service works with has decreased by 39 per cent since 2012/2013.
"The majority of the reductions were seen in 2013/14 and the total has remained relatively stable over the past three years," the report states.
At the end of December 2016, the service's area teams were collectively holding 147 cases - a decrease of 10 cases from last quarter.
The council said it plans to reduce funding for the service by £300,000 by March 2018 and a further £100,000 by March 2019, in addition to a £100,000 reduction already made in 2016/17.
It said it intends to maintain a "quality and effective service".
"We are incredibly proud of our youth offending service and in June 2016, HM Chief Inspector of Probation recognised ours as one of the most effective youth justice services in England and Wales, by awarding it 22 stars out of a potential 24 following an inspection," said Mark Sutton, lead member for children and young people at Staffordshire County Council.
"As a reflection of the success, the figures have fallen by over a third over the past three years. So we now need to look at how we can best shape the service to best meet Staffordshire's changing needs."
