“Well-led” Wirral Youth Justice Service rated ‘Good’ following inspection

Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, said: “Wirral YJS demonstrated genuine care and understanding for the children they work with. Creating trusting relationships was the basis of service delivery, and children spoke positively about the impact and value of the mentor service offered which provided positive role models.”

Inspectors found that assessing activity to help children make positive changes had been prioritised and care had been taken to include the views of children, parents, and carers to shape service delivery. It was evident that case managers were responsive to children and adapted the way they worked to meet children’s individual needs. However, more focus is required to ensure that assessing consistently analyses how to achieve safety for the child and the community.

Planning activity was undertaken well and was consistently strong. This resulted in partnership agencies having a clear understanding of what actions were needed to prevent further offending and to increase children’s safety. We then saw this evidenced in the delivery of services, many of which had been set up to respond to the risks to children from exploitation, serious organised crime, and the drug trade.

However, the victim policy and process at Wirral YJS were not yet translating into high-quality practice. Poor recording was having a detrimental effect on individual case management, which hampered the service’s ability to review and evaluate victim experiences, identify what work had taken place, or support a detailed analysis of the victim cohort. This meant services were not always tailored to individual circumstances, including those with protected characteristics or diversity needs.

Mr Jones continued: “There is much to commend Wirral YJS and the wider partnership for. This is a well-led and well-managed service, and by strengthening the work with victims I am confident they can build on their already strong base and improve further.”

The Inspectorate’s report makes six recommendations. Five are for Wirral YJS, including to improve the quality of assessing in relation to safety of the child and the community. One recommendation is for Merseyside Police to improve the information provided about the diversity and vulnerabilities of victims that consent to further contact from the YJS.

ENDS 

Notes to editor 

1. Inspections of youth justice work with children and victims (IYJWCV) is one of two separate types of youth justice inspection undertaken by the Inspectorate.
2. 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.
3. The Inspectorate uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’, rating specific aspects of each service and giving an overall rating.
4. 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).
5. The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 29 July 2025 at 00.01.
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 April 2025.
8. For media enquiries, please contact Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk