Agenda item

[Sally Nash, Head of Service YOT, present progress report on the YOT Inspection Action Plan, which follows up on the previous review in September 2016.]

Councillor Val Gibson, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, introduced the report to the panel and praised the achievements and performance of the service against national standards.

The Cabinet Member advised the panel the Youth Offending Team (YOT) was one of the best performing units nationally and the work had been commended at a recent conference. Sally Nash, Head of Service YOT gave a summary of the main findings of the recent inspection report and the progress made to implement the action plan.

The Head of Service reported that significant progress had been made in each of the recommendations detailed in Joint Inspection Action Plan (March 2017).

The Head of Service advised the panel that progress against the action plan has been submitted to the Youth Justice Board and Her Majesty’s Inspection of Probation for approval. The Head of Service added that outstanding issues from the action plan will be carried forward into the new Youth Justice planning regime, when the guidance is published.

The Head of Service gave a brief summary of the progress achieved in the six areas for improvement detailed in the action plan and areas where further work is needed. The Head of Service commented that report also includes further details requested by the panel about the performance of the service in respect of child sexual exploitation.

The Head of Service advised the panel that there are plans to appoint a research doctorate student to undertake research study exploring the effectiveness of the YOT evaluations. The research work will be start later in the year and will help the YOT Management Board to better understand the reasons for the success of the service. In addition, the Head of Service and Superintendent Keith Fraser are working jointly to review ‘out of court’ disposal interventions. The Head of Service advised the panel that the YOT Management Board will continue to monitor the progress of work in these areas. The Head of Service repeated previous concerns about the overrepresentation of young black men in the criminal justice system, but who are also underrepresented in terms of accessing preventative and support services and the need to better understand the reasons for the service.

The Head of Service advised the panel that issues of diversity that were raised previously by the panel will be included as part of the performance report to the YOT Management Board

The Head of Service updated the panel in response to their interest to the development of a reoffending toolkit that was discussed at a previous meeting. The development work is being led and supported by Chief and is aimed addressing the issue of diversity. In response to a panel request an equality impact assessment has been completed on the action plan.

The panel queried the progress in the development of the ‘Work Box’ in offering young people careers advice and guidance. The Head of Service briefed the panel on progress.

The panel queried the possible impact on the funding of programmes following the Brexit decision. Emma Bennett, Assistant Director, accepted the possible impact of any changes and in particular jointly funded work- for example, a scheme to create 25 job coaches aimed at getting people into work and also helping to supporting them in the job.

The panel wanted to formally congratulate the Head of Service on the well drafted and presented report and in particular the summary of service achievements while acknowledging areas for further improvement. The Head of Service commented that the findings of the research by the doctorate student will identify which interventions work and why, and also look in detail at the triggers that encourage and support behaviour change. The planned research will also include ethnographic research with service users.

The panel suggested that the findings of the research should be added to the future work programme.

The panel welcomed the report.

Resolved:

1.    The panel formally acknowledged their high performing Youth Offending Team against national standards.

2.    The panel agreed to receive a report on the findings and recommendation of the doctorate research when completed.

The meeting ended at 19:26