Isle of Wight youth offending service must improve, inspectors say

The council service supervises 10 to 17-year-olds and aims to reduce offending and re-offending

A service to tackle youth offending "requires improvement", inspectors have said.

Isle of Wight Youth Justice Service (YJS) was visited by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation in 2022 and 2023.

The council service aims to reduce offending and re-offending among 10 to 17-year-olds.

Isle of Wight Council said: "We have invested in retraining staff in the completion of assessments and plans."

The report contained seven recommendations.

The inspection found more needs to be done to support children with their physical health, speech and language.

Staff also needed to pay greater attention to children's range of needs, it added.

The inspectorate did, however, note that work to find accommodation for children when they were released from custody was good.

Interim chief inspector of probation Sue McAllister said: "Staff are committed and determined to improve the lives of children under their supervision, but there are areas we think need to be improved.

"This includes how the risk of harm a child may pose to others is identified and analysed, and greater input from the management board to lead the service's future.

"We very much look forward to watching them develop and build on our recommendations from this inspection."

There were some issues with in-court work and out-of-court disposals, which is where children receive support without having to go to court, inspectors also said.

The report found inconsistent work on the safety and wellbeing of children.

"Issues relating to the child's safety and wellbeing were not considered well enough in assessment work," it said.

"Assessment of the risk of the child causing harm to other people was inconsistent."

'Workload has reduced'

The YJS was found to have services in place to support children involved in substance misuse or with mental health issues, and it does offer support for parents or carers.

Staff said their workloads felt unmanageable at the time of the inspection.

In a statement, Isle of Wight Council said it acknowledged the report's recommendations.

It added: "The inspection came at time when there was an increase in workload and at the time of council staff changes. At that time, this impacted on the way work was delivered to children who were subject to Out of Court Disposals, including children subject to Cautions.

"Since the inspection, the workload has reduced, new staff have been appointed and we have invested in retraining staff in the completion of assessments and plans.

"With the support of the Youth Justice Service Management Board we will now turn to addressing some other areas such as providing a Speech Language and Communication resource, developing our approach to children with diverse needs, and improving the way we use feedback from children and families to inform and develop what we do."