Slough Youth Justice Service (YJS) accepts the overall rating of ‘Inadequate’, following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP), and work is underway to implement the recommendations from the report.
Our focus has, and will continue to be, on those we support. We will continue to protect the vulnerable families and young people we work with and improve how we can make a positive impact for all involved.
It is acknowledged that Slough’s Youth Justice Plan shows the ambition to support children in a way that recognises and responds to children’s complex needs, and that Slough Children First is committed to improving the YJS.
Slough YJS is committed to moving to a child-first model and developing a restorative justice approach, while we also recognise there is much more work to be done to achieve these aims.
Chief Inspector of Probation Martin Jones said: “A lack of stability at Slough YJS has resulted in some significant deficits in service delivery. There has been a fragile and limited understanding of youth justice practice at management board level which has resulted in a service unable to provide the necessary interventions to support desistance and protect the public.”
Sue Butcher, Director of Children’s Services and Chief Executive of Slough Children First and Chair of the Youth Justice Management Board said: “We are committed to using this grading and report as a way to identify what needs to be developed. We know we can improve our practice and achieve our goals with both families, young people and partners and good outcomes for our community.”
Cllr Puja Bedi, lead member for education and children’s services, said: “We accept the findings from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) on their inspection of Slough Youth Justice Service (YJS), and are already working towards the changes that have been recommended. We look forward to working as a partnership to improve our service for our young people and families that we work with and support.”
The report also highlighted the positive direction and leadership from the new chair of the YJS Management Board. This shows intent to steer the service to better recognise and respond to children’s needs and is an indication that a new plan will bring about change.
Martin Jones also acknowledged staff and management’s commitment to providing a high-quality service to children, although there are currently barriers in place to achieve this.
Recommendations made in the report include:
- Providing sufficient resources, knowledge and focus on services for victims
- Ensuring that quality assurance arrangements, oversight of practice and supervision arrangements consistently support the development of staff and volunteers
- Ensuring that the YJS is both sufficiently resourced and structured to facilitate the delivery of high-quality interventions for complex children and the victims of crime
Slough YJS has already put actions in place to achieve these targets.