Strong foundations for Calderdale Youth Justice Service as improvement work continues

Calderdale’s partnership work to support young people who have offended is in the spotlight this week, with the publication of a Youth Justice Service inspection report and discussion of the Youth Justice Plan at the Council’s Cabinet meeting.

Calderdale’s Youth Justice Service (YJS) is a central place where young people who have offended can get support. A group of organisations work together to prevent offending by working with young people, parents and carers, victims of crime and communities. Trained professionals from the service include social workers, police officers, probation officers and education, health and housing workers.

In May 2026, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation inspected the YJS, focusing on a small number of cases where the service had started work with children who have come into contact with the police or courts over the last year.

Due to the way the scoring system for these inspections works, the service received an overall rating of ‘Requires improvement’ but showed many features of a ‘Good’ service, including “high-quality, well-focused, personalised and coordinated services…achieving positive change and keeping children and communities safe” and “high-quality, individualised and responsive” work with victims to drive positive outcomes and safety for victims of youth offending.

The YJS is already taking action on the areas requiring improvement, and is working on priorities in the updated Youth Justice Plan 2026/27 to prevent offending by children and young people. Cabinet Members endorsed the plan at Calderdale Council’s Cabinet meeting on Monday 5 October 2026, and it will now be put forward for approval at the next Full Council meeting.

This coincides with the Inspectorate of Probation inspection report being published today (Tuesday 6 October).

Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, said:

“We saw many elements of strong practice at Calderdale YJS, with this solid foundation, and the enthusiasm and positivity of staff, they are in an ideal position to make the changes needed to enable the service to thrive.”

The inspectors were impressed with how hard the team works to understand the children in their care and to support them to achieve positive change. The report says: “It was positive to see that building trusting relationships with children was prioritised, and inspectors found evidence of practitioners working alongside children to ensure that their opinions and voices were heard.”

An outstanding area of the YJS that the inspectors highlighted was the “excellent” motivation and support to help young people to access education, training and employment opportunities. Staff were also praised for knowing the young people well, involving them and their parents or carers in plans, enabling them to excel and connecting them with meaningful activities in their local community, based on understanding their strengths – “Practitioners took time to understand the children and their personal circumstances…and to understand children’s motivation and ability to change.”

This strong work has helped to ensure a reduction in the number of young people in police custody, and the proportion of children who reoffend being lower in Calderdale than the national average.

Inspectors gave many examples of the “overwhelmingly positive” feedback from children and their parents or carers, saying they all felt respected and valued by the YJS.

One child, when talking about what had worked well for them, said:

“Just mainly talking and listening to me, that was the most important thing for me, so I could speak openly about my problems.”

One parent’s comment about the YJS team was:

“…they discussed a lot, they covered all bases and asked loads of questions, and me and my child felt very at ease. They seemed really interested in my point of view and how I felt about everything.”

The inspection found areas for improvement, and the services in the partnership are working on the recommendations, which include improving planning and assessments to ensure consistent and high-quality activity to keep children and communities safe; strengthening support for victims and using their feedback more to shape services; and working with West Yorkshire Police to review the approach to motoring offences to support children to make positive changes and reduce the need for formal action through the courts.

The Youth Justice Plan also aims to improve work across the YJS through a partnership approach, to improve outcomes for children and young people, prevent and reduce offending and reoffending, support and protect victims of youth crime, and contribute to safer communities. The plan is updated every year, but this year’s includes a focus on meeting the recommendations from the Inspectorate of Probation.

Cllr Tim Holden, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services, said:

“We welcome the Youth Justice Service inspection report, which gives us areas to focus on to make things better for local people and increase opportunities for children and young people to thrive.

“The report also gives positive feedback on the many things the service does well. Along with the Youth Justice Plan, we can build on these to make more improvements.

“The Plan shows we are making great progress, including significant reductions in reoffending, no custodial sentences for Calderdale children, an increase in children and young people taking part in education, training and employment, and a range of innovative new services such as a programme focused on knife crime prevention and resilience work with young women.

“I would like to thank all staff and partner organisations who have contributed to the development of our new plan and to the outcomes being achieved for children, families, victims and communities.”

Chief Inspector May Preston from West Yorkshire Police added:

“We welcome the findings of the inspection, which recognise the strong commitment of staff and partners across Calderdale Youth Justice Service to helping young people make positive changes in their lives.

“The report highlights the importance of early intervention, strong relationships and effective partnership working, all of which are key to reducing offending and keeping communities safe.

“West Yorkshire Police remains fully committed to working alongside our local authority, education, health, and voluntary sector partners to build on these positive foundations.

“We support the improvement work already underway and will continue to play an active role in ensuring young people receive the right support at the right time, helping them to move away from offending and towards positive futures.”

Read the inspection report here:https://hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/document/an-inspection-of-youth-justice-work-with-children-and-victims-in-calderdale-2026/