Praise for efforts to curb Rotherham's young offenders

EFFORTS to reduce youth crime have been praised by inspectors—but the say there is still plenty of work to do.

An inspection of the borough’s Youth Offending Service showed the area is above the national average when it comes to “likelihood of re-offending” and “safeguarding” work with young offenders.

The service was praised for: making full use of its resources; developing a wide range of high quality interventions; effective partnership working; and a pro-active approach to community integration.

Overall, the inspectors said that although there are further improvements to be made, however, with the town falling just below the national average in its actions to protect the public.

One inspector said: “We are confident that Rotherham YOS is capable of delivering on these improvements.”

Cllr Mahroof Hussain, the borough council’s Cabinet member for community development, said: “This is a very encouraging report and shows that our multi-agency work with young people is having a positive impact, particularly in relation to re-offending.

“We also recognise that we still have improvements to make around further reducing the risk of harm to others but we have already taken action to tackle this by improving staff training and closely monitoring risk.

“This will help us develop our work with the small numbers of young people who do fall into this category.”

Chief Supt Richard Tweed, said: “The Safer Rotherham Partnership is pleased to note the inspectorate’s comments on effective partnership working. 

“The YOS, Police and other partners are committed to reducing crime and disorder in Rotherham and this report shows we are taking the right steps.”