‘Struggling’  Probation Delivery Unit rated ‘Inadequate’

A ‘worrying lack of attention to keeping people safe in assessments’ was amongst the reasons East and West Lincolnshire PDU received the rating, a report by the Inspectorate said. The vast rural area it covered was also highlighted as a contributing factor.

Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “Despite a positive and supportive teamwork culture, we found regional and local governance arrangements to be driving staff and managers to prioritise performance targets over delivering a quality service. Unfortunately, the quality of work delivered to manage risk of harm was insufficient, which resulted in an overall rating of ‘Inadequate’.”

Inspectors said practitioners' ‘insufficient analysis of domestic abuse and safeguarding information’ had led to the concerns. Service delivery to keep people safe was also poor, with insufficient attention given to protecting actual and potential victims from the risk of potential harm posed by people on probation.

Regarding the geographical difficulties facing East and West Lincolnshire PDU, which covers a vast, rural area. Some people on probation were traveling long distances to attend appointments, and managers struggled to maintain sufficient visibility across the PDU.

Mr Jones continued: “I hope that the findings of this will afford East and West Lincolnshire some much-needed regional and national support to overcome the challenges associated with the PDU’s geography. Leaders also need to prioritise ensuring their practitioners understand their responsibilities and ensure management oversight develops reflective practice and professional curiosity.”

The report makes six recommendations, including to conduct a learning analysis to understand the skills and knowledge of the practitioner group and to analyse information on domestic abuse and child safeguarding sufficiently to inform the quality of assessment and management of people on probation.

Lincolnshire World has contacted East and West Lincolnshire PDU for a comment but had not received a reply at the time of publication.