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Calderdale Youth Justice Service rated ‘Requires improvement’ following inspection

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Calderdale Youth Justice Service (YJS) has received an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’ following an inspection of work with children and victims by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, said: “Practitioners at Calderdale YJS worked hard to understand the children in their care and to support them to achieve positive change. However, we found inconsistencies in some aspects of planning and assessing activity, which resulted in an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’.”

Inspectors were impressed by the “excellent” provision for education, training, and employment, and found a clear focus on securing opportunities which helped children reconnect with learning or access vocational pathways. The delivery of work with children was reflective of strong partnership relationships across most aspects, particularly mental health and speech and language.

However, the quality of work to keep children and the community safe was variable. While examples were found of effective multi-agency information sharing, this was not always applied consistently, and greater analysis of new concerns and potential risks in assessing and planning activity was needed to identify the support needed to keep the child and community safe.

Work with victims was encouraging, with prompt, comprehensive contact that provided enough information to help victims decide how they wished to engage and with on-going support based on their needs.

Mr Jones continued, “We saw many elements of strong practice at Calderdale YJS, with this solid foundation, and the enthusiasm and positivity of staff, they are in an ideal position to make the changes needed to enable the service to thrive.”

The Inspectorate’s report makes six recommendations. Two recommendations are for Calderdale YJS, including to improve assessing and planning to ensure consistent and high-quality activity to keep children and communities safe. Four recommendations are for the Calderdale Strategic Partnership Board, including, with West Yorkshire Police, to review the approach to motoring offences to enable Calderdale children to access appropriate diversion opportunities.

Notes to editor 

  1. Inspections of work with children and victims is one of two separate types of youth justice inspection undertaken by the Inspectorate.
  2. In this inspection we have inspected and rated work against our standards in domain two, and the victims’ standard. For more information, visit our website: Youth Justice Services – HM Inspectorate of Probation
  3. The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’; ‘Good’; ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’; rating specific aspects of each service and giving an overall rating.
  4. This service works with children aged 10 to 17. The YJS supervise children with complex needs and some in the care of the local authority.
  5. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 06 October 2026.
  6. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth justice and probation services across England and Wales.
  7. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in May 2026.
  8. For media enquiries; please contact Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk