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“Encouraging practice” found at Lambeth Youth Justice Service, rated ‘Good’ following inspection

Published:

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

Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, said: “There were many examples of encouraging practice at Lambeth YJS. Diversity and lived experience were well understood and practitioners knew what services were required to support children’s needs.”

Inspectors found strong work to achieve positive change for children across assessing, planning, and delivery. Practitioners displayed an understanding of how trauma impacted children’s wellbeing and adopted a trauma-informed approach. Practitioners worked alongside children and ensured their voices and opinions were heard, which influenced the work undertaken with them.

However, the overall quality of victim work needed improvement. Further strategic and operational support was required to ensure victims had a high profile in the service and to ensure their needs and wishes were considered consistently by all staff across the organisation.

Mr Jones continued, “While there were some small deficiencies in practice, Lambeth YJS understood the importance of high-quality provision for victims and were passionate and committed to improve their offer.”

The Inspectorate’s report makes four recommendations. One is for Lambeth YJS to strengthen assessing to ensure consistent and high-quality activity to keep children and communities safe. Three recommendations are for Lambeth Youth Justice Partnership Board, including to review the structure of victim work within the service to make sure it is sufficiently resourced.

ENDS 

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. 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.
  4. The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’; ‘Good’; ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’; rating specific aspects of each service and giving an overall rating.
  5. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 13 January 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 October 2025.
  8. For media enquiries; please contact Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk