Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Probation Unit Inadequate

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Probation Unit (PDU), which manages offenders in the county, was rated 'Inadequate' in six out of seven categories, and 'Inadequate' overall following an official inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation.

Taking place over a two-week period in April and May, this is the first inspection of this PDU since it was established under the unification of probation services in 2021.

Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, warned issues with leadership and the quality of work of the PDU meant practitioners were "often not accurately and sufficiently" identifying risks people on probation posed to others. 

In his report, Mr Jones 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.”

The report found that senior probation officers were "overstretched" and unable to carry out their duties effectively, with inspectors "alarmed" that some were managing caseloads on behalf of practitioners due to high vacancy rates. 

Meanwhile, inspectors said the unit was not "fully representative" of the communities it served, with just seven per cent of staff in the PDU declaring themselves to be from a black, Asian and minority background, compared to 15 per cent of the local population. 

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

However, the report found that work to engage with people on probation was well established thanks to ongoing engagement with people with lived experiences of the criminal justice system. 

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.