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Brighton and East Sussex PDU rated as ‘Requires improvement’

Published:

Brighton and East Sussex Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) has received an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’ following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

The inspection revealed strong leadership, with committed staff and managers, however, the management of cases was largely insufficient in terms of the quality of work being delivered.

Sue McAllister, Interim Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “The PDU has a stable leadership team, who are creative, implementing the delivery plan and addressing challenges with the culture locally.

“They have adopted innovative ways of working with Violence and Exploitation Units, specifically working with young adults across the PDU, and also a Short Sentence Function supporting the release of people on probation from custody.

“Despite the innovation seen, however, the management of risk in cases inspected across all teams within the PDU, was below expectations overall.”

While the inspection saw a middle manager team of Senior Probation Officers (SPOs) who were approachable and visible, the management oversight of cases was not sufficient.

Probation practitioners within the PDU consisted of a large proportion of inexperienced and recently recruited officers; and national training programmes have not addressed all learning needs to ensure practitioners have the necessary skills for this complex area of work. As such, the demand on middle managers to provide additional support, against a backdrop of an already significant workload was unachievable.

Sue McAllister added: “There was a lack of services to reduce the risk of harm posed by individuals and interventions were not being implemented and delivered that resulted in any tangible reduction in the risk of further offending or serious harm.”

As a result of the inspection findings, a number of recommendations were made, including a focus on the development of practice to identify, analyse and respond to risk of harm, along with improved implementation and delivery of sentence plans to support the robust management of cases.

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. Brighton and East 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 November 2023
  7. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications, Louise Cordell 07523 805224 / media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)