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“Further progress required” in public protection work across Yorkshire and the Humber region of the Probation Service

Published:

HM Inspectorate of Probation has undertaken a review of public protection measures [see notes to editor] across the Yorkshire and the Humber region of the Probation Service.

Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “We were encouraged to find signs of increasing stability across the Yorkshire and the Humber region. However, longstanding issues with vacancies, sickness and attrition, combined with high levels of practitioner and middle manager inexperience, continued to undermine capacity and confidence.”

 Context

  • This report focused specifically on public protection work being delivered across the Yorkshire and The Humber region of the Probation Service.
  • 90 cases were inspected where the Inspectorate examined assessment, planning, implementation and delivery, and reviewing, all through the lens of public protection work.
  • The Yorkshire and The Humber region of the Probation Service is the second largest, after London. It delivers services 11 Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) spans four police force areas and 21 local authorities.

Findings

  • Inspectors found that strategic action taken following our previous inspection was beginning to drive improvement, however, further progress was still required for the service to meet expected standards across all elements of assessment, planning, implementation and delivery, and reviewing.
  • Workforce pressures remained a significant challenge in some probation delivery units (PDUs) although, encouragingly, there were signs of increasing stability. Despite this, longstanding issues with vacancies, sickness and attrition, combined with high levels of practitioner and middle manager inexperience, continued to undermine capacity and confidence.
  • Staff retention was being affected by long vetting delays, concerns about pay, and excessive workloads, and leaders felt national recruitment campaigns had not properly reflected the public protection responsibilities of the role, leaving new staff unprepared.
  • Inspectors noted constant organisational change, driven by national policies, and crisis-driven working, which meant that staff were encouraged to focus on transactional tasks rather than reflective, analytical decision-making.
  • Access to critical risk information from partners like police and children’s services had improved through co-location and better systems. However, practitioners still faced delays and received incomplete information, and leaders stressed that national action was required to fully resolve this.

Mr Jones added: “To continue improving public protection outcomes, it is essential leaders strengthen practitioners’ skills and confidence and ensure there is meaningful management oversight and consistent delivery of interventions.”

Recommendations

This report makes seven recommendations.

  • Four of these are for the Yorkshire and The Humber probation region, including to develop practitioners’ confidence and skills in the use of professional curiosity and challenging conversations, and to ensure senior probation officers have sufficient capacity and resources to undertake effective management oversight of casework.
  • Three recommendations are for HM Prisons and Probation Service, including to develop a national strategic approach to information-sharing with the police and children’s services, and to reduce vetting delays and address workforce instability by implementing streamlined and more regionally responsive recruitment processes.

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. HM Inspectorate’s Dynamic Inspection of Public Protection is a new programme which started in October 2025. The Inspectorate has paused its core adult programme to undertake eight months of dynamic inspection activity, focussed solely on the Service’s delivery of public protection. It is inspecting all twelve regions then delivering follow-up activity with strategic leaders and managers to identify what can be done to support and guide regional leaders into improving work, increasing knowledge and confidence and providing a solid foundation for further improvement. 
  3. The Yorkshire and The Humber region is one of 11 probation regions in England with a further region in Wales.
  4. The report is available on our website on 14 May 2026.
  5. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth justice and probation services across England and Wales. We report on the effectiveness of probation and youth justice service work with adults and children. We highlight good and poor practice and use our data and information to encourage high-quality services. We are independent of government and speak independently.
  6. The Inspectorate typically uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’ for inspections, however, has opted out of one-word ratings for this inspection programme.
  7. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)