Our new combined annual report
Today we are publishing our new combined annual report, which gives an insightful overview of a period of significant activity for the Inspectorate, with the launch of three new inspection programmes amidst a backdrop of systemic challenges and ongoing policy changes across probation and youth justice services.
Our programmes continue to recognise committed, motivated practitioners working hard to achieve better outcomes for the people they manage, however, there is still much more to do to. I am pleased to have this opportunity to share the evidence that continues to underpin our call for urgent, focused action to protect the public, support victims, and give the Probation Service the foundations it needs to succeed.
Our first combined report covers findings from all our inspection areas, including probation, youth justice, and national and local area inspections. We also share some of the highlights from our research programme and our ongoing commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, and digital transformation. As we look back over this period, we have also reflected on the impact of our work has had in influencing change where it is most needed.
Findings from our 2025 National Inspection of probation identified public protection as a serious area of weakness across the Service, and our ongoing inspections across the North East, East Midlands, and Wales have continued to find persistent deficits.
In October 2025, I took the difficult, but necessary, decision to pause our core adult inspection programme and launch a six-month dynamic inspection focused solely on public protection. So far, themes across this programme have included workforce instability, high workloads, and poor, inconsistent multi-agency information sharing. This programme is due to conclude in July 2026, and I look forward to sharing overarching findings from across the programme alongside examples of effective practice in due course.
Our new Approved Premises (AP) inspection programme launched in September 2025. Until then, the AP network faced no independent inspection, and given our ongoing concerns about public protection, we have been pleased to introduce this oversight to drive improvement and recognise strong practice across the AP network.
Following extensive consultation and piloting, our new youth inspection programme was introduced in the spring of 2025 to positive feedback from the sector and inspected services. The new programme places children and victims at its heart, and findings to date reveal work to keep children and communities safe is the area that Youth Justice Services (YJS) most needed to develop, however, positively, inspections have contributed to local and national improvements in the quality of information police share with services about victims.
This year also marks 90 years of probation inspection. As we prepare to reflect on our history in the autumn, it is an appropriate time to look ahead at the future too, with our 2030 Strategy and ongoing consultation into our new probation inspection process due to be shared later this year.