“Shortfalls remain” in public protection measures in the North West region of the Probation Service

Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “This inspection identified some improvements in mechanisms designed to keep people safe, and, since our last inspection of the region in 2023, leaders had made considerable efforts to improve information sharing with police and children’s services.

“Senior leaders had ensured a strong focus remained on their public protection responsibilities and the recent reorganisation of probation delivery units (PDUs) and creation of a dedicated court team had also seen an improvement in court work and clearer PDU alignment.”

 Context

• This report focused specifically on public protection work being delivered across the North West region of the Probation Service.
• Ninety-four cases were inspected where the Inspectorate examined assessment, planning, implementation and delivery, and reviewing, all through the lens of public protection work. Inspectors interviewed 85 practitioners and held focused discussion groups with representative managers from probation and partner agencies working alongside them.
• At the time of the inspection announcement, the region supervised approximately 27,680 people in the community or in custody and around 2059 staff were in post.

The North West region of the Probation Service covers 11 Probation Delivery Units (PDUs), Cumbria, North West Lancashire, Pennine Lancashire, Central Lancashire, Sefton, Liverpool North, Liverpool South, Wirral, Knowsley & St Helens, Cheshire East & West, and Warrington & Halton.

Findings

• The inspection found shortfalls in casework in all four key questions relating to the management of risk in the North West probation region. The shortfalls were particularly notable in relation to assessment, where fewer than 40 per cent of cases were deemed to be sufficient. These shortfalls in casework were often similar to those we have seen in other probation regions.
• There was a strong strategic focus by regional leaders on public protection centred largely around its two-year public protection delivery plan. Despite this, too often, practitioners did not sufficiently analyse information available to them about the person on probation or focused exclusively on the present conviction without considering how previous patterns of behaviour may impact future risk and activity.
• Three years ago, we noted a significant backlog in relation to information requests to the police, including over 1,300 outstanding requests across Merseyside. It was encouraging to note that we did not see these delays and in all the cases we reviewed where an enquiry had been made to the police at the beginning of an order regarding domestic abuse, information had been received.
• Despite information generally being exchanged, in around a third of cases we looked at where an enquiry to children’s services was required, insufficient levels of information in relation to that enquiry had been received and not effectively followed up by practitioners to seek clarity.

Mr Jones added: “Overall, we saw some examples of well managed cases, but some shortfalls remained, particularly in relation to case assessment. In too many cases, insufficient analysis of information, a lack of professional curiosity and limited liaison with other agencies to obtain a full picture of the person on probation undermined effective practice.”

This report makes five recommendations. Four are for the region, including to ensure probation practitioners are supported in developing the confidence and ability to manage complex caseloads alongside competing demands. One recommendation is for HM Prison and Probation Service, including 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 six months of dynamic inspection activity, focussed solely on the Service’s delivery of public protection. It will inspect all twelve regions then deliver 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 North West region is one of 11 probation regions in England with a further region in Wales.
4. The report is available on our website on 15 June 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 Louise Cordell, Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)

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