In a report released today (January 13) the government inspectors said they found strong work to achieve positive change for children across assessing, planning and delivery when they visited Lambeth in October.
They also said the council team displayed an understanding of how trauma impacted children’s wellbeing and adopted a trauma-informed approach. Its practitioners worked alongside children and ensured their voices and opinions were heard, which influenced the work undertaken with them.
Overall the council service received a rating of ‘Good’ with outstanding features, in a finding which both praised the work being undertaken and provided direction for further improvement.
The new rating also demonstrates a marked improvement in the Lambeth Council service which was previously graded as ‘requiring improvement’ in 2019 and ‘inadequate’ in 2015.
Cllr Dr Mahamed Hashi, Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “The Lambeth Youth Justice Service provides vital services for our community, supporting young people at an incredibly vulnerable moment in their lives.
“As someone who has been a youth worker in Lambeth for more than 20 years I know the value of strong interventions at what is a crucial point in these young people’s lives. Good support, and good council services, can really change a young person’s life by putting them of the right path for a positive future.
“So I’m pleased to see that the expert government inspectors have praised our work, and also provided advice on how we can be even better in the future. Lambeth is committed to being one of the safest boroughs in London, and good services like this are helping us make that happen.”
The Inspectorate of Probation reports to the Secretary of State for Justice on the effectiveness of work done to reduce their likelihood of people re-offending and their risk of serious harm.
Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, said: “There were many examples of encouraging practice at Lambeth YJS. Diversity and lived experience were well understood and practitioners knew what services were required to support children’s needs.”
Inspectors also advised that an area for improvement would be the overall quality of victim work, and that further strategic and operational support was required to ensure victims had a high profile in the service and to ensure their needs and wishes were considered consistently by all staff across the organisation.
Mr Jones said: “While there were some small deficiencies in practice, Lambeth YJS understood the importance of high-quality provision for victims and were passionate and committed to improve their offer.”
The Inspectorate’s report makes four recommendations. One is for Lambeth YJS to strengthen assessing to ensure consistent and high-quality activity to keep children and communities safe. Three recommendations are for Lambeth Youth Justice Partnership Board, including to review the structure of victim work within the service to make sure it is sufficiently resourced.
To read the full report visit hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk.
