Sheffield probation services rated 'inadequate' by inspectors

The city's probation services, overseen by the Ministry of Justice, must better protect victims of crime, inspectors say

Sheffield's probation service has been rated as "inadequate" following an inspection earlier this year.

The service "must improve" after scoring just one out of a possible 27 points, his Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation said.

It faced "high vacancy and sickness rates, unmanageable caseloads and staff leaving", said Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell.

The unit's work to keep people safe was its weakest area, he said.

Mr Russell said the probation service in Sheffield had to do better in order to "ensure the risk of harm people on probation may pose is properly assessed, for the protection of victims, potential victims and the local community".

'Little insight'

At the time of the inspection, in January 2023, too many cases being dealt with by the service had not included "essential information from police and children's services", according to Mr Russell.

That meant efforts to keep people safe could have been weakened, particularly in identifying where women and children were at risk of abuse, he said.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation said it had found senior probation officers in Sheffield were not routinely monitoring how people on probation were being managed by their teams and had "little insight into whether the quality of work being carried out was being successful".

However, the Inspectorate said managers were hindered by "high workloads and insufficient capacity to provide the level of oversight that was necessary".

Mr Russell had called on senior leaders at the service to provide "a clear vision" for returning the service to "an acceptable level of service, for the benefit of all concerned".

Fourteen recommendations for improvement were issued to the Sheffield service, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, which oversees probation services, said: "We have taken immediate action to address the issues raised by inspectors, including additional training for staff to improve risk assessments and more regular quality checks on management plans for offenders.

"We are also investing an extra £155m a year into the Probation Service and recruiting record numbers of staff to deliver tougher supervision and keep the public safe."