A pest-infested building, meetings in the car park and a backlog of 400 domestic abuse enquiries as Northamptonshire probation service judged 'inadequate'

Staff from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation found that buildings were too small and lacked privacy, with the Kettering staff having to share a reception area with the council and forced to hold some unplanned meetings in the car park.

The report said that buildings were ‘unfit for purpose’, with the Wellingborough office suffering from a pest infestation.

The Northamptonshire Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) has 149 workers and a 40 per cent vacancy rate, with staffing also hit by high sickness rates. Probation workers operate from three offices in Northampton, Wellingborough and Kettering and are currently supporting 1,297 people on community sentences, 648 people on post-release supervision, and 666 cases in prison.

Inspectors said that a backlog of Northamptonshire Police domestic abuse intelligence responses presented a ‘significant challenge’. There were 400 responses outstanding, and although PDU leaders had submitted a business case for probation access to police databases, the issue had not been resolved.

They found ‘concerning deficits’ in work to keep people safe at to point of assessment. The quality of overnight arrest and domestic abuse call out intelligence from police was ‘variable’ and requests for further details could be delayed by up to two months.

The use of domestic abuse information to inform assessments was sufficient in just 22 out of 70 inspected cases, with no request for information made in 31 of those 70 cases including examples where there was a known history of violence against previous partners.

Their report went on: “Processes implemented to obtain child safeguarding information were inconsistently applied.

"Effective multi-agency liaison in respect of child safeguarding was evident in just four out of 41 relevant cases. In respect of domestic abuse, this figure was just eight out of 34 relevant cases. Inspectors identified 38 out of 59 relevant cases where risk indicated the need for a home visit, but this was not undertaken.”

Some of the county’s most serious offenders are managed under MAPPA (Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements) designed to protect the public. But inspection identified several cases where MAPPA screening had not been completed. There was a backlog of almost 200 MAPPA level one discussions in the PDU.

Inspectors also found some good practise in the unit. They said there was particular emphasis on young Black, Asian and minority ethnic males and an increased focus on engaging people on probation was evident since the last inspection

Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “Despite leaders’ clear vision for the service at Northamptonshire PDU, the high staff vacancy rates, excessive workloads and poor-quality estates meant delivery of the vision was sadly an ambition rather than a reality at the point of inspection.

“As previously highlighted in a May 2022 inspection of Northamptonshire PDU, the estates across the unit remain unfit for purpose. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“Despite the challenges, practitioners at Northamptonshire PDU spoke positively about their roles, their teams, and the level of support they were receiving. Key to improving service delivery at Northamptonshire will be a renewed focus on the quality of casework, staff development and improving management oversight; together with an urgent, national consideration of how the wider probation estates strategy can better support a modern, responsive and high-quality service.”

The report makes seven recommendations to Northamptonshire PDU which include ensuring sufficient staffing is in place, making sure domestic abuse and safeguarding information is complete and ensuring that work is undertaken to manage child safeguarding and domestic abuse.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The prison system is in crisis which is putting significant pressure on the whole justice system.

“We are gripping the situation and supporting our hardworking staff by improving training and recruiting 1,000 more probation officers nationally to deliver robust supervision and protect the public.”