Cumberland’s Youth Justice System requires improvement says its independent watchdog.
The service was reviewed by the Inspectorate of Probation from July this year, which said although there were major improvements to be made, it was encouraged by the leaders’ commitment to improve.
The service works with children aged eight to 18 who have either committed an offence or identified as being at risk of doing so.
Around 264 young people were involved with Cumberland Youth Justice Service last year, through 269 disposals, including out of court and statutory work
This was its first inspection since local government reorganisation in April 2023.
The report said: “The team has had to manage a range of issues, including moving premises and implementing all new support and back-office functions, such as
human resources and information technology services.”
Data gathering is also an issue as prior to April 2024, all information was Cumbria-wide, rather than local authority specific.
The report added: “In light of this, the Youth Justice Board has been unable to allocate a family group and not yet been able provide Cumberland-specific trend data as part of its quarterly summaries. Likewise, longer-term Police National Computer reoffending data will not be comparable.”
Chief Inspector of Probation Martin Jones said: “The significance and depth of the reorganisation of Cumberland Youth Justice System was vast, with the service and its newly formed board having to navigate and establish new partnerships and pathways at local and regional levels.
“Despite the changes, we were encouraged by YJS leaders’ unwavering commitment and their awareness of where they need to improve.”
Despite the overall finding, the inspectorate rated staff, information and facilities and implementation of out of court disposals as good. However, assessment of out of court disposals was inadequate and reviewing and planning of court disposals were also rated as inadequate.
The report said its staff were the service’s biggest asset, and were motivated, experienced and resilient.
Ten recommendations have been put forward by the inspectorate.
It said the management board should:
- Review its board membership, role and function to make sure that all representatives have the seniority to make decisions and commit necessary resources
- Develop individual and collective knowledge and understanding of board members’ roles and the service’s work and provide effective challenge to partners
- Make sure that all members of the YJS partnership and other partner agencies provide appropriate support, resources and services to prioritise YJS children
- Take responsibility and ownership for resettlement across the whole YJS partnership as a key strategic priority
And the Cumberland Youth Justice Service should:
- Improve the quality of court disposal casework, focusing on keeping the child safe and managing the risk of harm to others
- Ensure that out-of-court-disposal panel members include standing representatives from social care, education and health, so that all partners are visible, accountable and able to fully understand the risks and needs of the YJS cohort
- Review out-of-court disposal arrangements to ensure that, in all cases, out-of-court disposal decisions are made after a comprehensive assessment is completed with the child
- Improve the quality of assessment and planning activity to reduce the risk of harm to others in out-of-court disposal casework
- Ensure that YJS managers have the capacity to provide consistent and effective management oversight and quality assurance of practice
The NHS North East & North Cumbria ICB should:
- Ensure that its statutory duty to provide relevant and timely physical, sexual, emotional and mental health services to YJS children is fulfilled, across the full range of mainstream and specialist health pathways.
Inspectors said they found partnership arrangements at the service to be inconsistent.
Some good arrangements were in place with the police, Probation Service and substance misuse services, its report said, but there was a limited service provision elsewhere, particularly in relation to health.
Inspectors said they observed a high level of engagement from children and service staff navigating the gaps in partnership arrangements to get good outcomes for children.
Mr Jones added: “There is much to commend Cumberland YJS as they continue to build on the stable foundations put in place over the last year. Moving forward, the challenge is for the YJS management board to establish consistency and cohesiveness, to effectively translate strategy into strong service delivery.”
After the report was published today, Cumberland Council said it welcomed the findings.
Emma Williamson, deputy leader and executive member for children, family wellbeing and housing, said: “We are proud of the hard work and dedication of Cumberland YJS and the incredibly positive outcomes they are having with children and young people.
“We acknowledge the areas for improvement identified by HMIP and we remain committed to addressing these challenges, and to delivering consistent, high-quality services for young people across Cumberland.
“The commendation of our progress so far is a testament to the dedication of our team, and we look forward to continuing to build on the solid foundations already in place.”
Martin Birch, Cumberland Council’s director of children and family wellbeing, added: “We are pleased the inspectorate recognised the work of our teams in helping to support children and young people. The team are truly the service’s greatest asset.
“They are motivated, experienced, and deeply committed to putting children at the heart of everything they do.
“Despite the challenges of reorganisation, they have created a culture of collaboration and support, which has enabled the service to remain resilient and child-focused. We are proud of the progress made so far and are fully committed to addressing the areas for improvement identified.”
