Inspectors have raised "serious concerns" about an organisation that works with troubled Bradford children and young people.

HM Inspectorate of Probation led a routine inspection of Bradford Youth Offending Team (YOT), looking at 12 aspects of the team’s work.

The Inspectorate gave Bradford YOT a ‘requires improvement’ rating – its second-lowest mark.

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.

Armed police response after four masked gang members assaulted young person and dad

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “We had a number of serious concerns about this YOT, with performance on eight of our 12 quality standards judged to be ‘inadequate’ and the service only rescued from an overall ‘inadequate’ rating by some better-quality work with out-of-court disposal cases.

“Bradford YOT has been through a period of instability, particularly among its senior ranks. There has been an absence of strategic leadership, which has affected the team’s ability to work effectively with children and young people who have offended or who are at risk of offending.”

Inspectors were particularly concerned about the YOT’s ability to manage risks.

Mr Russell said: “Bradford YOT has a committed and motivated workforce, but we found staff did not have the knowledge to manage risks safely.

“Our inspection found staff were not proficient at recording risks on the system or dealing with issues such as child sexual exploitation or safeguarding. Planning to keep other people safe was one of the weakest areas of practice, done poorly in two-thirds of inspected cases. The risk of harm assessment was completed late in nearly half of inspected cases – sometimes several months after it should have been done.”

Inspectors also found problems at the top of the organisation. The Management Board drives the YOT’s work and should include representatives from the local authority, police, probation service, children’s social care and other local agencies.

Mr Russell said: “In practice, members are frequently missing – for example, the council has not fielded a representative from its education department for more than a year. Those who do attend are not always clear on their role or are not sufficiently senior to make key decisions.

“The Board is failing to scrutinise the YOT’s work and drive improvements. For example, the YOT has not analysed data to understand the collective needs of its children and young people. As this profile is missing, it is difficult to ascertain if the YOT is providing the right types of support and services.”

Inspectors also found a lack of information sharing with the police. In the three months prior to the inspection, 168 children and young people were given community resolutions by the police for low-level offending. In nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of cases, the YOT was not notified, so could not help those children and young people to move away from further offending.

Mr Russell concluded: “There is a new senior management team in place, and they know the challenges faced by the YOT, and are well placed and committed to address the issues identified. The staff have expressed optimism about the new leadership and its ability to make necessary improvements.

“Our report includes seven recommendations to improve safety, leadership, information sharing, and work with the police. We urge Bradford YOT to act on our recommendations to ensure vulnerable children and young people in the city get the support they need.”

The Strategic Director of Children's Services at Bradford Council, Mark Douglas, accepted the findings, but said urgent action is being taken.

He added: "We fully accept the report’s findings and the service is acting on these urgently to ensure that improvements are made to practice and that young people in Bradford are safe.

"Our new senior leadership team was already aware of the areas of concern the report raises and we are now working closely with the police and other partners to ensure effective working arrangements are in place.

"The report identifies some positive findings on which we need to build, but we recognise that there are many areas of the service that are not yet performing at the level they need to be and we need to see a rapid improvement, particularly in the way we identify and mitigate risks to young people and the public. 

"One area the report raised was a concern about was planning and it goes on to recognise that we were in the process of developing appropriate plans with the input of young people.

"The service has since gone on to win a national award for this work and this is the kind of improvement we must now make across the whole of the service."

Meanwhile, Councillor Abdul Jabar, portfolio holder for neighbourhoods and community safety, said the service "must improve and do so at pace."

He added: "One of the main concerns the report raised was the instability within the board and leadership team.

"This has now been addressed with a new senior leadership team in place and a more stable and permanent board who are aware of the weaknesses within the service and are already making the positive changes needed.

"But we need to see a rapid turn-around to make sure that the young people and their families who rely on the service get the proper support they need so they don’t pose a risk to themselves or others."

The issue with leadership is something that Unite the Union - which the majority of the YOT staff are represented by - highlighted before the inspection.

A spokesperson said: "It is not a surprise to Unite that the YOT has failed its inspection.

"Unite has raised with senior management in the department some of the issues highlighted in the report, such as the changes in management, and warned that it would provide instability to the team and would impact on the upcoming inspection.

"Unite has also raised with senior management the lack of consistency in terms of its appraisal of staff.

But the union championed the general workforce.

The spokesperson said: "Whilst the report is damning of management, senior management and the Council’s key partners in that team it is important to note the report does highlight the hard work and dedication of the staff within the YOT who continue to provide the best level of service they can."