HM Inspectorate of Probation Digital Transformation Strategy 2026-2028

Executive summary (Back to top)

HM Inspectorate of Probation has a vision to support the delivery of high-quality probation and youth justice services that change people’s lives for the better.

We do this by conducting independent inspections, giving recommendations, undertaking research and producing effective practice guidance. We also publish thematic reports, conduct Serious Further Offence reviews and produce annual reports.

Digital technology, data and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) are changing how public sector organisations work, how services are delivered and how decisions are made. This is true for the Inspectorate, and it is increasingly true of the services we inspect.

This strategy sets out how we will become a digitally enabled and insight-led inspectorate. It is not about technology for its own sake. It is about supporting our people, improving how we work, making better use of evidence, and increasing the reach and impact of inspection.

Over the next three years, we will focus on three strategic strands:

People, change and transition
Building digital confidence, providing the right tools, and empowering colleagues to lead and shape change from the ground up.

Operational excellence
Improving the systems, processes and ways of working that support inspection and corporate delivery.

Inspection insights and digital scrutiny
Making better use of data, evidence and digital tools to generate insight, while building the knowledge and capability to inspect services increasingly shaped by digital, data and GenAI.

By 2030, we will have built digital confidence across the organisation, migrated priority data into more structured and usable environments, improved key inspection and corporate workflows, and developed new insight products that extend the reach and impact of inspection.

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Our north star (Back to top)

Digital transformation can quickly become a collection of tools, pilots and projects. Our north star gives all colleagues a shared point of reference. It explains why we are making these changes and what should guide decisions about where we focus, what we test and what we scale.

Our north star is:

“To ensure HM Inspectorate of Probation remains a credible and authoritative inspectorate by keeping pace with, and effectively scrutinising, a system increasingly shaped by digital, data and GenAI.”

This means every digital initiative should help us improve how we work, strengthen inspection quality, extend the reach of our insight, or build our capability to inspect services that are changing around us.

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By 2030:

• our people will be supported to use digital tools and GenAI confidently and responsibly
• our work will be easier to plan, deliver and assure
• our evidence will be more structured, searchable and reusable
• our insight will reach further and be more accessible
• our inspection will remain credible in a digitally enabled system

To achieve this, things will change. Some processes will be redesigned. Some tasks will be supported differently. Some information will need to be structured in new ways. Some current ways of working may be stopped, simplified or replaced where they no longer add enough value.

We will be open about this and support colleagues through transition.

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1. Strategic strand one: People, change and transition (Back to top)

Aim
We will support colleagues to build digital confidence, develop the right skills and capability, and use digital tools and GenAI confidently, safely and effectively. Digital transformation will be colleague-led and done with people, not to people.

Why this matters
Digital transformation will only succeed if colleagues are supported, confident and able to see how it helps their work. We need to make sure people have the right skills, tools, platforms and opportunities to use digital and GenAI in practical ways that improve quality, consistency, efficiency and impact.

This strand is about taking people on the journey. We will listen to teams, understand where work is harder than it needs to be, and create opportunities for colleagues to explore, test and shape digital solutions from the ground up.

We will focus on:

Listening to teams and understanding real needs
We will engage teams across the Inspectorate to understand where digital, data and GenAI could add value. Priorities will be grounded in real work, not assumptions about technology.

Building digital confidence and capability
We will support existing staff to develop the digital skills they need to use new systems, platforms, data and GenAI tools confidently. We will provide training, guidance, peer learning, show-and-tell sessions and simple job aids, using wider MoJ resources where helpful. Digital capability will also be considered in induction, learning and development, workforce planning, future role design and recruitment where relevant.

Providing the right tools and platforms
We will ensure colleagues have access to the right tools, hardware and platforms to work effectively. We will also look across MoJ, across the Civil Service and other public bodies for digital initiatives, tools and approaches that could be adopted, adapted or scaled for our context.

Creating safe spaces to test and learn
We will create structured opportunities for colleagues to test ideas safely before wider adoption. This means starting small, using dummy or non-sensitive data where appropriate, agreeing what success looks like, and carrying out proportionate checks on privacy, security, equality and human oversight before anything is scaled.

By 2027 we will have:

• completed a digital skills and confidence mapping exercise
• created clear routes for staff to propose, test and shape ideas
• embedded digital capability into induction, learning and workforce planning

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2. Strategic strand two: Operational excellence (Back to top)

Aim
We will improve the systems, processes and ways of working that support inspection and corporate delivery, making them more efficient, consistent, reliable and user centred.

Why this matters
Our work depends on effective planning, coordination, collating evidence, analysis, reporting and follow-up. Where systems are fragmented or processes are overly manual, colleagues spend time navigating workarounds rather than focusing on the areas where their expertise adds most value.

Developing digital operational excellence will help us reduce burden, improve consistency and strengthen the quality and impact of our work.

We will focus on:

Redesigning processes before automating them
We will start with the problem, not the technology. We will avoid automating poor processes or adding technology that creates more complexity.

Improving inspection planning and delivery
We will use digital tools to strengthen how inspection work is planned, coordinated, tracked and delivered, including visibility of activity, milestones, risks, resources and pain points.

Streamlining corporate and enabling processes
We will improve the systems and processes that support governance, business planning, research, communications, learning and development, quality assurance, reporting, knowledge management and administrative workflows.

Making information easier to find and use
We will improve how organisational information, guidance, templates, decisions, learning and inspection materials are stored, accessed and maintained.

Scaling what works
We will scale successful pilots where there is evidence of value, adapt what needs improvement and stop activity that does not create enough value.

By 2028 we will have:

• mapped and redesigned priority inspection and corporate processes
• reduced reliance on manual trackers, duplicated reporting and workarounds
• improved visibility of work, deadlines, risks and responsibilities
• improved access to key guidance, templates and organisational knowledge
• scaled successful digital and GenAI pilots where evidence supports adoption
• made better use of MoJ tools, platforms and digital initiatives where suitable

3. Strategic strand three: Inspection insights and digital scrutiny (Back to top)

Aim
We will use digital, data and GenAI responsibly to generate more timely, accessible and useful inspection insight, while strengthening our ability to inspect services increasingly shaped by digital tools, data and GenAI.

This strand has two connected areas of focus:

• making better use of our own evidence and data to improve insight, transparency and impact
• developing our ability to inspect digital practice in probation and youth justice services fairly, consistently and credibly

Why this matters
The Inspectorate holds significant evidence about probation and youth justice services. We need to make better use of this evidence so that insight is easier to find, analyse, reuse and share with the people who can act on it.

At the same time, the services we inspect are changing. Probation and youth justice services increasingly use digital systems, data dashboards, automation and GenAI-enabled tools to support practice, decision-making and oversight.

To remain credible and authoritative, we need to understand these changes, assess their impact, and form clear inspection judgements about whether digital practice is improving outcomes.

We will focus on:

A. Making better use of inspection evidence and insight

Structuring inspection evidence for reuse
We will improve how inspection evidence is collected, stored, tagged and structured so it can be searched, analysed and reused more effectively.

Migrating and unlocking priority data
We will develop and deliver a plan for migration from GRH and other priority data sources, focusing on the data that creates the greatest value for inspection quality, insight and impact.

Improving transparency, reach and accessibility
We will develop new ways to share inspection findings and evidence with different audiences, including insight products, dashboards, thematic summaries, online briefings or interactive outputs.

B. Strengthening digital scrutiny in inspection

Understanding digital practice in the field
We will build our understanding of how probation and youth justice services use digital tools, data and GenAI in practice, including how these tools affect practice, decision-making, management oversight, fairness and outcomes.

Developing digital lines of enquiry
We will develop consistent lines of enquiry about how digital tools are used, whether they support or weaken professional judgement, how decisions are challenged and assured, whether tools create bias or unequal impact, and how people experience digitally enabled services.

Engaging services and partners
Through the external digital and GenAI advisory group, we will bring digital expertise, probation and youth justice services, youth justice partners and other relevant stakeholders into the heart of the design process. This will help us inspect fairly and form credible judgements about digital practice in the field.

By 2030, we will have:

For inspection insight:

• completed priority data migration planning and migrated all legacy data
• structured priority inspection data so it is easier to search, analyse and reuse
• tested GenAI-supported approaches to summarising, searching and identifying themes
• developed new digital insight products for defined audiences

For digital scrutiny:

• developed a clearer understanding of digital, data and GenAI use across inspected services
• developed and tested lines of enquiry for inspecting digital and GenAI use in services
• strengthened how we engage services and partners when designing digital inspection approaches

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4. Ways of working and governance (Back to top)

Digital transformation will be driven by curiosity, learning and practical problem-solving. We will give colleagues permission to identify opportunities, test ideas and challenge existing ways of working, while providing the support and safeguards needed to do this responsibly.

Our approach will be bottom-up as well as strategically led. Many of the best ideas will come from the people closest to the work.

Our ways of working

Start with the problem and the value.
We will begin with the problem, opportunity or user need, not the technology. We will prioritise ideas that address clear pain points, reduce avoidable burden and create measurable value. Not every idea will be taken forward, but every idea should help us learn where digital, data or GenAI can make the biggest difference.

Work across teams.
The best solutions will bring together inspection knowledge, data and analysis, research, communications, learning and development, corporate expertise, technology, information assurance and user experience.

Create permission to test and learn.
The first version of an idea does not need to be perfect. Our guiding principle will be: minimum time, minimum cost, maximum learning.

Innovate beyond the current model.
Inspection reports will remain central to our work, but they are not the only way we can create impact. We will ask how evidence, data and insight could reach more people, more often and in more useful ways.

Use evidence to validate ideas.
Each test will have a clear problem, user, value proposition, assumption, success measure and decision point.

Use safe boundaries to enable innovation.
We will be clear about red lines: protecting personal and sensitive data, maintaining professional judgement, ensuring human accountability, using approved tools, considering fairness and equality, and complying with security and information assurance requirements.

Governance and assurance

Governance should enable innovation, not constrain it. Our approach will be based on freedom within a frame.

The Delivery Board will provide strategic oversight. The GenAI Working Group will provide the main route for GenAI-related activity, including the Ideas Backlog, use-case register, safe testing, escalation and learning.

We will establish an external digital and GenAI advisory group to support inspection insights and digital scrutiny. It will bring together digital expertise, probation and youth justice services, and justice partners to help put the people and services affected by our inspection processes at the heart of the design process

The group will focus on how the Inspectorate uses digital, data and GenAI to inspect fairly, and how we form credible judgements about digital practice in the field. Accountability for inspection methodology, findings and judgements will remain with us.

Assurance will be proportionate to risk. Low-risk productivity improvements should move quickly within agreed guardrails. Higher-risk work, particularly where it involves personal or sensitive data, decision support, equality implications, inspection conclusions or significant organisational change, will require more formal review.

This model will help us move quickly where it is safe to do so, and carefully where the risks are higher.

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5. Roadmap: from foundations to impact (Back to top)

First 100 days: build the foundations and start testing

Priority	What we will deliver	Measures of success
Digital skills and confidence	Complete a digital skills and confidence mapping exercise across teams and develop a practical support plan for staff. At the same time, provide early guidance and support so colleagues can start using approved tools and testing low-risk ideas immediately.	Skills map completed. Baseline confidence measure established. Staff support plan agreed. Priority training needs identified. Development pathways identified and published on intranet for access.
Ground-up ideas and safe testing	Open clear routes for colleagues to suggest, develop and test digital and GenAI ideas from day one. Use the GenAWG to support early low-risk, high-value tests without creating unnecessary delay.	Ideas Backlog active. First wave of use cases selected. Sandbox or pilot testing started. Each test has an owner, success measures and proportionate risk checks.
Tools, platforms and MoJ reuse	Identify immediate tool, hardware or platform barriers that limit digital working. Look across MoJ for existing digital initiatives that could be adopted, adapted or scaled within HMIP.	Priority tool gaps identified. MoJ opportunities reviewed. Initial adopt/adapt opportunities added to the roadmap.
GRH data migration	Begin data migration planning from GRH, including scope, priority data sets, risks, dependencies and ownership.	Migration scope agreed. Key data sets identified. Risks and dependencies documented. Initial migration plan developed.

By the end of the first 100 days, we will have a clear delivery structure, a baseline of digital confidence, active governance, early pilots underway, an open route for staff ideas, and a practical plan for priority data migration.

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Annex A: Roadmap and measures of success (Back to top)

This digital strategy will be delivered over three years. The first 100 days will focus on creating the foundations for delivery. Year two will focus on developing operational excellence. Year three will focus on maturing inspection insights and increasing reach and impact.

Success will not be measured only by whether tools are introduced. It will be measured by whether digital, data and GenAI improve confidence, quality, efficiency, insight, transparency and impact.

First 100 days: build the foundations and start testing

Priority	What we will deliver	Measures of success
Digital skills and confidence	Complete a digital skills and confidence mapping exercise across teams and develop a practical support plan for staff. At the same time, provide early guidance and support so colleagues can start using approved tools and testing low-risk ideas immediately.	Skills map completed. Baseline confidence measure established. Staff support plan agreed. Priority training needs identified. Development pathways identified and published on intranet for access.
Ground-up ideas and safe testing	Open clear routes for colleagues to suggest, develop and test digital and GenAI ideas from day one. Use the GenAWG to support early low-risk, high-value tests without creating unnecessary delay.	Ideas Backlog active. First wave of use cases selected. Sandbox or pilot testing started. Each test has an owner, success measures and proportionate risk checks.
Tools, platforms and MoJ reuse	Identify immediate tool, hardware or platform barriers that limit digital working. Look across MoJ for existing digital initiatives that could be adopted, adapted or scaled within the Inspectorate.	Priority tool gaps identified. MoJ opportunities reviewed. Initial adopt/adapt opportunities added to the roadmap.
GRH data migration	Begin data migration planning from GRH, including scope, priority data sets, risks, dependencies and ownership.	Migration scope agreed. Key data sets identified. Risks and dependencies documented. Initial migration plan developed.

By the end of the first 100 days, we will have a clear delivery structure, a baseline of digital confidence, active governance, early pilots underway, an open route for staff ideas, and a practical plan for priority data migration.

Year two: systematically develop operational excellence

Priority	What we will deliver	Measures of success
Process improvement	Review and redesign priority inspection and corporate processes before introducing new tools or automation.	At least three priority processes redesigned. Evidence of reduced duplication, manual handling or process friction.
Workflow and planning	Improve digital support for planning, tracking, coordination, governance and delivery oversight.	Better visibility of activity, deadlines, risks and owners. Reduced reliance on manual trackers and duplicated reporting.
Knowledge management	Improve how guidance, templates, learning, decisions and organisational information are stored and accessed.	Staff report improved ability to find key information. Reduced duplication of documents and guidance.
Scaling proven approaches	Scale successful first-wave digital and GenAI pilots into wider practice where evidence supports adoption.	Pilots evaluated. Successful approaches adopted more widely. Benefits, non-benefits and risks captured.
Continuous improvement	Establish a repeatable approach for reviewing, testing and improving operational processes over time.	Clear improvement cycle in place. Teams understand how to raise process issues and propose improvements. Learning from pilots feeds into wider delivery.

By the end of year two, we will have moved beyond isolated productivity gains. We will have clearer, better-supported processes, reduced duplication, stronger workflow oversight, improved access to organisational knowledge, and technology platforms that support how the organisation works as a whole.

Year three: mature inspection insights

Priority	What we will deliver	Measures of success
Structured inspection evidence	Improve how inspection evidence and organisational data are structured, stored and reused.	Priority data sets structured. Historic and current evidence easier to search and analyse.
Insight products	Develop new digital insight products that extend the value of inspection beyond traditional reports.	At least two insight products tested and launched with defined audiences. Reach, feedback and reuse measured.
GenAI-supported insight	Test and, where appropriate, adopt GenAI-supported approaches to summarising, searching and identifying themes in evidence.	GenAI use cases evaluated. Human oversight and assurance in place. Transparency summaries produced where required.
Inspection of digital and GenAI in services	Develop consistent lines of enquiry for inspecting digital, data and GenAI use in probation and youth justice services.	Lines of enquiry agreed and tested. Inspectors supported to assess digital practice confidently. Findings inform wider sector learning.
Impact and transparency	Improve how inspection findings, themes and evidence are shared with stakeholders.	Increased accessibility and timeliness of insight. Evidence of increased use of HMIP insight by the sector.

By the end of year three, we will be generating more timely, accessible and reusable insight from our evidence, while being better equipped to inspect services shaped by digital and GenAI.