Youth service praised for its progress

INSPECTORS say Oldham Youth Offending Service is making good progress.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation spent five days in Oldham in July assessing the service.

Its findings concluded that significant progress has been made in the period leading up to the inspection.

None of the nine areas inspected were judged the lowest — inadequate — or the highest — excellent, but three were rated good and six adequate.

Areas inspected included work in the courts; work with children and young people in the community, those at risk of offending and those who have offended; work with parents and carers; work with victims and restorative justice; and management and leadership.

Andrew Bridges, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “Significant changes had been implemented These included improvements in the organisation’s performance management arrangements and staff skills development.

“The YOS had seen its performance steadily improve over time.

“We found an organisational culture that was focused on effective engagement with children and young people. The board, managers and staff were keen to improve further their services by addressing the recommendations in this report.”

Highlights included praise for a specialist resettlement team, the range of projects developed to provide opportunities for work for the benefit of the community, and a dedicated victim inclusion officer to help victims.

YOS head Penny Sharland said: ‘‘I am delighted that the inspectorate has recognised the contribution the Youth Offending Service has made to reducing youth crime and preventing young people from committing anti-social behaviour.

“We have achieved a lot in three years and there is still more to do. I think the inspectorate recognised our excellent work with the victims of youth crime and the ways in which we use restorative justice to bring home the consequences of their crimes to young people.

“I want to commend my staff and volunteers for their hard work. It has clearly paid off with Oldham receiving a more positive inspection result than our neighbours in Bury and Tameside.”

The chairman of Oldham’s Youth Justice Management Board, Janet Donaldson, said annual reviews had shown an improvement year on year.

She added: “The service has now produced an improvement plan based on the findings of the report, so that all aspects of performance can move to good or excellent.”