The outstanding news that Bromley Youth Justice has received the highest category overall rating following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation is being welcomed.
The outstanding rating means that Bromley is recognised as one of the country’s leading local authorities for Youth Justice, with only 4 other councils in London recognised as outstanding. Nationally, there are 17 Youth Justice services that have achieved an outstanding rating. Additional ‘outstanding’ recognition was also received for resettlement, meaning that there is a high-quality, evidence-based resettlement service for children leaving custody.
Councillor Kate Lymer, Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Children, Education and Families said, “This is heartening and welcome news which is directly attributable to the professional dedication of so many, which the Inspectorate highlights, including our partners. We pay tribute to this work, which can be immensely challenging but which directly helps each child to succeed. We welcome the findings and recommendations and will consider the best ways to bring these forward to improve still further.”
As part of the inspection, a number of different aspects of the Youth Justice were assessed, which included organisational delivery (leadership, staffing and facilities), the management of children serving court sentences (court disposals) and children serving cautions or community sentences (out-of-court disposals). All service areas were judged to be outstanding or good, with an overall rating of outstanding and a total score of 33 out of a possible of 36 points.
In addition to the impact that Youth Justice service staff, leaders and partners have on the service, the report also draws attention to the statistics which also show the impact. The Inspectorate’s report notes that there “is a focus on improving impact and this is supported by evidence showing significant reductions in the reoffending of its cohort of children” with the statistics also showing the reoffending rate in Bromley being lower than the national figure.
The outstanding inspection outcome for Youth Justice follows earlier news last year that an Ofsted inspection of Bromley’s Children Services concluded that children in the borough receive “exceptionally strong services”, with an outstanding rating in all categories.
Ends
Editor’s notes - The report is available on the HM Inspectorate of Probation website on 7 January 2024 at 00.01. On page 6 of the report, it says, “There is a focus on improving impact and this is supported by evidence showing significant reductions in the reoffending of its cohort of children - for example, by six per cent for its out-of-court cohort and nine per cent for its court cohort over the past 12 months. The number of prevention cases has increased (from 20 in 2018/2019 to 196 in 2023/2024), and of out-of-court cases has decreased (from 143 in 2018/2019 to 41 in 2023/2024).”
Also on page 6, the report says, “The reoffending rate in Bromley between October 2021 and September 2022 was 22.6 per cent, compared with 33 per cent in England and Wales.”
For media enquiries, please contact Andrew Rogers, Head of Public Affairs, on 020 8461 7670 or email Andrew.Rogers@bromley.gov.uk.