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Neath Port Talbot Youth Justice Service rated ‘Requires improvement’ following inspection

Published:

Neath Port Talbot (YJS) has received an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’ following an inspection of youth justice work with children and victims by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. 

Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, said: “We found a culture of reflection and transparency at Neath Port Talbot YJS, and practitioners and leaders were both passionate and committed to achieving positive outcomes. However, we found inconsistencies in the practice and oversight of casework to promote the safety of the child and the community.”

Inspectors found that assessing was not consistently analytical or sufficiently curious and, at times, key information shared by the child and their parents or carers was not corroborated with relevant services, leading to an overreliance on self-disclosure. In several instances, these insufficiencies in assessing had impacted the effectiveness of planning and delivery.  Management oversight did not have the consistent impact required and did not always address the variability in practice.

Work with victims was identified as needing development, as organisational arrangements for victim work were being driven by YJS leaders, with limited drive from the YJS management board. Recording and oversight of victim work required strengthening, with case records not reflecting the quality of practice, and oversight activity not sufficiently evidenced.

At the time of the inspection announcement, none of the children supported by the YJS were in full-time mainstream school. The YJS recognised the crucial importance of education in supporting positive change and promoting the safety of both the child and the community. It made extensive efforts to support reintegration, advocated for children and their parents or carers, and escalated concerns within the local authority. However, substantial work was still required at both management board and senior strategic levels to ensure that YJS children could access their statutory education entitlement.

Mr Jones continued: “Moving forward, the management board and strategic partners, have a crucial role in prioritising the development of Neath Port Talbot YJS, ensuring leadership have sufficient capacity to carry out their duties to a consistently high standard.  They also need to ensure children’s access to education is given significant priority.”

The Inspectorate’s report makes nine recommendations. Two are for Neath Port Talbot YJS, including to improve assessing and planning to ensure consistent, high-quality work that keeps children and communities safe. Six recommendations are for the youth justice management board, including to prioritise the development of its workstreams to ensure that the board, rather than the YJS, is driving forward key areas of partnership working. One recommendation is for the Chief Executive of Neath Port Talbot to lead a collaborative, cross partnership approach to enable YJS children to receive their statutory educational entitlement.

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 all our standards in domain one, 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 inspection looked at standards of organisational delivery (leadership; staffing and facilities); their management of children serving court sentences (court disposals) and children serving cautions or community sentences (out-of-court disposals).
  6. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 12 May 2026 at 00.01.
  7. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth justice and probation services across England and Wales.
  8. Fieldwork for this inspection took place in January 2026.
  9. For media enquiries; please contact Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk