East and West Lincolnshire Probation rated Inadequate
Serious concerns have been raised around protecting domestic abuse survivors and children
Inspectors have rated East and West Lincolnshire's Probation Delivery Unit Inadequate, following serious safeguarding concerns.
The report highlights insufficient analysis of domestic abuse and child abuse information resulting in people not being kept safe.
The area inspected includes seven district councils - City of Lincoln, Boston, East and West Lindsey, North and South Kesteven and South Holland.
The geographical difficulties facing East and West Lincolnshire, which covers a vast, rural area, are also detailed in the report.
"We found there was some serious concerns in East and West Lincolnshire Probation Delivery Unit, " said Dave Argument, Head of the Probation Inspection Programme at His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation.
"Not enough analysis was being done in relation to safeguarding of children, and domestic abuse information was not being acted upon effectively enough.
"Overall we found that not enough work was being done to protect actual and potential victims from harm posed by people on probation."
The inspection began in March 2025, with an overall score of 2/25 recieved.
All seven areas were rated Inadequate bar Leadership and Staffing which Require Improvement.
"We've recommended, as a result of our inspection, that Lincolnshire addresses some key problems in relation to skills, learning and knowledge of its practitioners
"To work more closely with domestic abuse police officers and with social workers involved in the safeguarding of children.
"We feel that if those issues are addressed, the probation delivery unit should do much better.
"We found a staff group that was motivated, committed and wanted to do the best.
"But they were hamstrung and struggling with staffing issues in terms of the volume of staff in post and with systems that weren't enabling them to communicate with partners as effectively they as we think they ought to have been."
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice gave this response to Inspectorate's findings:
"The government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, placing significant strain on the probation service.
“That is why we are boosting probation funding by 45%, investing up to £700 million more a year by 2028, and are on track to recruit 2,300 more probation officers nationally by March next year.
"More staff using more tags will help ensure offenders receive robust supervision and keep the public safe.”