Peterborough probation unit rated as 'inadequate' in official inspection

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough probation service has been slammed in a new report – with inspectors saying they were ‘deeply concerned’ with work being carried out the leadership team.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Probation Delivery Unit (PDU), which manages offenders in the community, has been given an ‘Inadequate’ grading following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

This is the first inspection of this PDU since it was established under the unification of probation services in 2021.

The safeguarding of children and managing domestic abuse risks were raised as particular concerns, as was the workload of probation officers.

Inspectors ‘deeply concerned’ by findings

In his report, Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “We were deeply concerned to find major issues with the leadership of this PDU and the quality of work it was delivering. Leaders were paying nowhere near enough attention to the quality of risk assessments and management plans, and the systems and processes that should have been controlling that quality were having no effect in practice. As a result, practitioners were often not accurately and sufficiently identifying the risk people on probation posed to others in their lives and communities.”

Staff overstretched

The report said that Senior Probation Officers (SPOs) were overstretched and unable to carry out their duties effectively.

Inspectors said they were alarmed that some were managing caseloads and completing assessments on behalf of practitioners due to high vacancy rates.

The inspection also found poor practice in relation to safeguarding children and managing the risk of domestic abuse, with far too many assessments based on incomplete or missing information and lacking sufficient depth to protect vulnerable people from harm.

However, it was not all bad news – the report also highlights that work at the PDU to engage with people on probation was well established thanks to the recruitment of peer mentors and ongoing engagement with people with lived experience of the criminal justice system. There were also strong links with the local police, with good levels of communication and collaboration on casework and relationships that supported information sharing.

‘Great deal to be done to steer this PDU back to an acceptable level’

Mr Jones added: “Some of the staff we met were passionate about their work and committed to supporting people to change. That was to their great credit, especially considering the challenges they have been facing. However, there is a great deal to be done to steer this PDU back to an acceptable level of service.”

The report makes four recommendations to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough PDU, including to devise a strategy for returning to a sustainable level of service and to ensure actual and potential victims are sufficiently protected through partnership work with other agencies such as the police and children’s social care services.

The report is available at www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation