Offending team praised in report

1:31am Thursday 15th May 2008

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Bradford's Youth Offending Team has been praised for its work.

The service, part of Bradford Council's services to Children and Young People, was inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation and the report scores the Youth Offending Team as excellent in two areas, and good in a further five areas.

Andrew Bridges, HM Chief Inspector of Probation described the team as an "energetic and forward-thinking organisation" with "some innovative ideas which had been translated into practice".

The team was classed as excellent in "outcomes of work with children and young people in the community" which included working in partnership with the Youth Service to set up an anti-bullying text messaging service.

The management and leadership of the team was also marked as excellent with the YOT being "influential in developing the district's approach to tackling anti-social behaviour as part of the Respect action plan pilot".

The majority of staff said they felt "well-informed about policies".

The service works to give young offenders a more positive direction in life and prevent them getting into a cycle of re-offending. Those who have benefited from this work have also given the service a thumbs-up: l 80 per cent of them said they were now less likely to re-offend l 95 per cent felt YOT staff were really interested in helping l 98 per cent felt they were treated fairly and with respect.

Councillor Colin Gill, executive member for children's services, said: "This is a very positive assessment of Bradford YOT. I have seen at close quarters the work they do with young offenders and young people at risk of offending and I am pleased the inspection has recognised the quality of this work."

The team was also scored as good in five areas - work in the courts, work with children and young people at risk of offending, work with children and young people who have offended, work with parents and carers and victims and restorative justice.

Bradford's YOT works with approximately 1,000 young people a year between the ages of ten and 18.