Youth Justice Service inspection 2024

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation inspectors assessed our Youth Justice Service (YJS) over a week-long visit in May 2024. The full report is available on the HMIP website.

Report score

The report’s score of 34 out of 36 for the YJS is the best result in London so far and the third-highest in all of England and Wales (as of August 2024).

The difference the service has made

The service developed innovative schemes and ways of working – often developing them in collaboration with direct input from children and families with lived experience. This has helped:

• reduce the number of under-18s entering the justice system in the first place by more than half between 2016 and 2023
• decreasing the proportion of children who reoffend after they enter the youth justice system from one of the highest rates in the country to one of the lowest
• support children with issues including substance and alcohol misuse, physical and mental ill-health
• improve children’s prospects by supporting them to continue their education, find training or a job
• develop a “comprehensive anti-racist strategy” to address the over-representation of particular groups of children in the justice system – an effect known as ‘disproportionality’
• ensure strong links with partner organisations including police, probation service, education institutions and health providers
• develop an effective restorative justice programme to support victims.

How the service made this happen

The YJS’ approach has been to use innovation and research alongside early intervention and prevention tactics to support children and families, many of whom are among the most vulnerable in the borough. It means fewer victims of crime and fewer children ending up in the youth justice system in the first place.

Innovative research with children, families and partner organisations has also identified underlying issues that allow the service to take appropriate action and provide the right support at the right time – including around education, employment, mental and physical health – to stop problems early.

Assessment

The assessment measures performance in areas like governance and leadership, staff, community sentences and resettlement. Each is given a mark that contributes to the overall score. The service was last inspected in 2016.

Organisational delivery

All of the below were marked as 'outstanding'.

• Governance and leadership - The governance and leadership of the YJS supports and promotes the delivery of a high-quality, personalised and responsive service for all children.
• Staff - Staff within the YJS are empowered to deliver a high-quality, personalised and responsive service for all children.
• Partnerships and services - A comprehensive range of high-quality services is in place, enabling personalised and responsive provision for all children.
• Information and facilities - Timely and relevant information is available and appropriate facilities are in place to support a high-quality, personalised and responsive approach for all children.

These elements were not officially rated but were commented on in the report.

• Involvement of children and their parents or carers - The YJS’s approach to child, parent and carer participation is impressive. Their voices and feedback are central to the operational and strategic approach of the YJS. There is a genuine commitment to understanding the lived experience of children, parents, and carers and using this to shape service delivery and improve outcomes for children.
• Diversity - The YJS and partnership approach to meeting diverse needs is fully established in practice and highly impressive, in particular their strategy and vision to address disproportionality.

Court disposals

The HMIP took a detailed look at eight community sentences managed by the YJS. All of the below were marked as 'outstanding'.

• Assessment - Assessment is well-informed, analytical and personalised, actively involving the child and their parents or carers
• Planning - Planning is well-informed, holistic and personalised, actively involving the child and their parents or carers.
• Implementation and delivery - High-quality, well-focused, personalised and coordinated services are delivered, engaging and assisting the child.
• Reviewing - Reviewing of progress is well-informed, analytical and personalised, actively involving the child and their parents or carers.

Out-of-court disposals

• Assessment - 'Good': Assessment is well-informed, analytical and personalised, actively involving the child and their parents or carers.
• Planning - 'Outstanding': Planning is well-informed, analytical and personalised, actively involving the child and their parents or carers.
• Implementation and delivery - 'Outstanding': High-quality, well-focused, personalised and coordinated services are delivered, engaging and assisting the child.
• Out-of-court disposal policy and provision - 'Good': There is a high-quality, evidence-based out-of-court disposal service in place that promotes diversion and supports sustainable desistance.

Resettlement

• Resettlement policy and provision - 'Outstanding': There is a high-quality, evidence-based resettlement service for children leaving custody.

Recommendations

The service was given some recommendations to further improve to "make a positive impact on the quality of youth justice services in Islington" and "improve the lives of the children in contact with youth justice services and better protect the public".

1. Work with police and probation partners to improve its offer for victims. This includes increasing victim consent rates and ensuring the statutory role and remit of probation victim liaison services is understood and embedded.
2. Continue work with the partnership to review and improve education experiences and outcomes for children under 16 years of age.

Recommendations were also given to the Metropolitan Police:

• Review the use of Outcome 22 in Islington and work with the YJS to embed this as part of the diversion offer.

And one recommendation for the out-of-court-disposal external scrutiny panel:

• Include information on protected characteristics when reviewing out-of-court disposal decisions. This will enable the panel to identify the impact of diversity and disproportionality in decision-making.