THE Youth Justice Board has announced that Bradford and District’s Youth Justice Service has made "significant improvements" since priority support was put in place in 2019.

An inspection at that time had raised "serious concerns" about the organisation - which works with troubled young people.

In one inspected case, potential gang-related activity was not recorded on a young person’s file. A gang subsequently assaulted the young person and a family member, leading to an armed response from police.

A recent follow up performance review of how the service has engaged with the Youth Justice Board to make changes has recognised its progress to address key areas in need of improvement.

The board highlighted how the service has "focused on improvements in relation to prevention, diversion and resettlement and has a clear drive to make improvements in education, training, and employment outcomes."

Bradford and District’s Youth Justice Service identifies the needs of young people by addressing specific problems that could cause them to offend and supports their needs with the intention of preventing further offending.

Inspectors raise 'serious concerns' about Bradford Youth Offending Team

The youth Justice Board has commended the service on how the focus has been on meeting the needs of the children, their families and Bradford communities during the improvement process.

Mark Douglas, Strategic Director of Children’s Services at Bradford Council said: "The improvements that have been made over the last 18 months within Bradford and District’s Youth Justice Service has been shown by the positive feedback and de-prioritisation by the Youth Justice Board.

"It is excellent news and a good indicator of progress, however we do understand that this is not an inspection judgement and that our improvement journey continues.

"The service has worked hard to engage with the board to make the changes with the aim of improving the future of our young people who have unfortunately ended up down this path. I thank everyone involved and look forward to seeing the impact these improvements have made on our communities.”