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West Sussex PDU rated as ‘Inadequate’

Published:

West Sussex Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) has received an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’ following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. This follows the PDU’s last inspection in 2022, when the service was also rated ‘Inadequate’.

Sue McAllister, interim Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “It is disappointing that West Sussex PDU has once again received an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’, with insufficient progress made against most recommendations made following the last inspection.

“Despite strategic ambitions of leaders to protect the public and improve the quality of casework, the strategy was not being delivered in a way that supported those ambitions.”

The inspection found that recruitment at the PDU has led to improved staffing figures in large areas of the service, and reasonable average caseloads for many staff. It has also, however, resulted in a significant proportion of staff having limited experience in service delivery.

Sue McAllister added: “This experience will take time to develop and the supportive culture of the PDU will contribute to that development.

“However, implications for the quality of work delivered in West Sussex are clear; casework across all four service delivery standards we inspected was ‘Inadequate’, with work to keep people safe being the weakest area of practice.

“Leaders in West Sussex must improve the strategic and operational management of risk to protect victims effectively.”

The Inspectorate’s report noted significant gaps in understanding the diverse needs of people on probation and the impact of service deficits on marginalised groups, and too few examples of good quality sentence implementation aimed at promoting desistance and reducing the risk of harm.

As a result of the inspection findings, a number of recommendations were made, including a focus on improving professional curiosity, staff confidence, service provision and structured delivery of the sentence of the court.

ENDS

Notes to editor

  1. Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) replaced Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (NPS), which merged into a unified Probation Service in June 2021.
  2. West Sussex PDU sits within the Probation Service – Kent, Surrey and Sussex region.
  3. The report is available at justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation on 22 February 2024.
  4. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth offending and probation services across England and Wales.
  5. The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’. The Inspectorate rates specific aspects of each service and also gives an overall rating.
  6. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in December 2023.
  7. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications, Louise Cordell 07523 805224/media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)