Probation inspection report finds service to be 'inadequate'

CULTURE, MORALE AND WORKLOAD FOUND TO BE AREAS OF CONCERN

- By ZENA HAWLEY

SEVERAL significant problems relating to culture, morale, and workloads were found at Derbyshire Probation Delivery Unit (PDU), which has been judged to be 'inadequate' following an inspection.

It was the first inspection following the unification of probation services in 2021.

Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, said: “Disappointingly, this inspection found several problems at Derbyshire PDU, with deficits across all standards of our inspection casework.

“Inspectors observed a difficult working environment, with divisions and hostility between all grades of staff.”

At the time of inspection, Derbyshire PDU had a caseload of 1,112 people on probation who were subject to community sentences and 544 people who were being supervised on licence from prison.

In total, 383 individuals were being managed in custody before release.

The inspection team examined 38 community orders, 22 releases on licence from custody, and one case that had both a community order and a period of licence supervision from custody, where sentences and licences had started during two separate weeks.

Fifty interviews with probation practitioners were also carried out.

The newly-published report reveals that inspectors were concerned with the delivery of services to keep people safe and reduce the potential risk of harm posed by people on probation, with only 34% of cases examined in this inspection assessed as sufficient.