Trafford's Youth Justice Service praised in report

Trafford Council’s Youth Justice Service is celebrating after receiving huge praise in a recent Government inspection report.

The service, which supervises 10–18 year-olds who have been sentenced by a court, or who have come to the attention of the police because of their offending behaviour, was given a ‘good’ rating by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

The report was particularly pleasing to Trafford Council as children and young people are one of the local authority’s major corporate priorities.

This inspection was a full inspection of the service which is completed every four years. Inspectors rated Trafford Youth Justice Service (YJS) across three main areas - the arrangements for organisational delivery of the service, the quality of work done with children sentenced by the courts, and the quality of out-of-court disposal work (for less serious offences).

The report concluded that Trafford Youth Justice’s (TYJ) staff are ‘outstanding’, and its partnerships and services, and information and facilities provided are ‘good’. The inspection also found there is good provision for TYJ children from health providers, and the partnership has a strong focus on serious youth violence which includes an innovative project involving youth justice mentors and schools to reduce knife crime.

One of the main aims of the Trafford Council’s Youth Justice Service is to reduce sustained offending by young people because of the detrimental impact it has on communities, (desistance). This area of work was rated as ‘outstanding’. The report continued: “In post-court cases, the quality of delivery of services to children and reviewing their circumstances across all areas of promoting desistance, safety and wellbeing, and keeping other people safe was outstanding. Planning to promote a child’s desistance was also outstanding.”

The inspection, which is designed to drive improvements in the quality of work with children who have offended, took place between 19 and 22 October 2020. The full report can be found here.

Cllr Cath Hynes, Trafford Council’s Deputy Leader, said:

“I am extremely proud of the work that the Trafford Youth Justice Service carries out with young people across the borough who offend or are at risk of offending which includes some of our most vulnerable children. Children and young people are a major priority for Trafford Council so I am delighted with the findings of this report.

The inspector pointed to some major positives within the service and I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the team for all their hard work and that this was fully recognised in the inspection. We remain committed to taking forward the areas highlighted for further improvement and there is a comprehensive improvement plan to address all of these areas being led by the Board and we promise to do all we can to make these positive changes.”

Posted on Wednesday 10th February 2021