Durham probation services must focus more on reducing reoffending and protecting the public
A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation found some good work was being done but improvements needed to be made.
There MUST be more focus on reducing reoffending and protecting the public in probation services in Durham.
That's the conclusion of a new report published today by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation.
It found probation staff from both the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies were working well together in Durham, but needed to improve the quality of some of their work.
Inspectors praised iniatives like Checkpoint, which diverts low-level first-time offenders away from the criminal justice system.
They also praised the morale of staff, which was higher than most other areas in the UK.
However, the report suggests improvements need to be made to 'on-the-day' pre-sentence reports prepared by National Probation Service staff.
Inspectors found quality was "not good enough, and led in many instances to poorly focused proposals and sentences that were not always appropriate for the needs of the case."
More focus could also have been made on reducing reoffending and protecting the public.
Dame Glenys Stacey said:
“This is the first of our new Quality & Impact inspections. We found in Durham that the National Probation Service was working well, but needed to produce better court reports to help sentencers.
"The Community Rehabilitation Company for Durham Tees Valley had introduced a number of promising initiatives, but was having to deal with a reduced caseload.
"It needed to refocus on core probation work - reducing reoffending and protecting the public – and on quality assurance.
"It was good to see that staff from both organisations were working well together and morale remained high.”
It's part of a new programme of regular inspection, set up in April and Durham is the first area to be inspected under this new programme.