Press release

Youth Justice Board response to HMIP report into Lambeth Youth Offending Team

The Youth Justice Board (YJB) welcomes the findings of the HMI Probation report into Lambeth Youth Offending Team, published today.

From:
Youth Justice Board for England and Wales
Published
7 January 2015

This news article was withdrawn on

This content is now out of date. Visit www.gov.uk/yjb for the latest youth justice news and information.

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

A core function of the YJB is to monitor all youth offending teams (YOTs) across England and Wales. Full Joint Inspections, such as the one carried out on Lambeth YOT, usefully support and supplement performance improvement requirements.

Although the services provided by Lambeth YOT have improved, there is still more work to be done and this report has highlighted several important areas for improvement. As a result of the report, Lambeth YOT have agreed to engage with a targeted performance improvement programme, which is currently being formalised.

Lambeth has had changeable performance outcomes related to a challenging youth population (high instances of gang and serious violence) and significant change across a local authority which has struggled to maintain a permanent and professional workforce.

The range and pace of change has been ambitious and whilst the HMIP report acknowledges that progress has been made, there is still a lot of work to be done. However, the YJB are confident that further improvements will continue to be made and that there will be clear and robust accountability.

Notes to editors

  1. Read the Full Joint Inspection of Youth Offending Work in Lambeth published today, Wednesday 7 January.

  2. The performance of all YOTs is reviewed on a quarterly basis against the three key youth justice indicators (number of first time entrants to the youth justice system, rates of young people reoffending and the use of custody).

  3. This data is also supported by intelligence about the local operational context from YJB area staff, including known pressures associated with resource and governance, local demographics and external inspection findings such as Ofsted and HMI Probation.

Youth Justice Board media enquiries

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales
Clive House
70 Petty France
London
SW1H 9EX

Press office 020 3334 3536

Published 7 January 2015