Inspection report finds ‘significant progress’ at Probation Board

An inspection of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) has found “significant progress”.

It comes after a critical report from Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland in 2020 which made five strategic and six operational recommendations to deliver improvement.

These were aimed at staff morale and organisational culture, and how it managed the risk of harm presented by men and women under probation supervision to others in the community.

A follow-up review to assess progress has found one strategic and two operational recommendations fully achieved, with the remaining four strategic and four operational recommendations partially achieved.

Jacqui Durkin, chief inspector of criminal justice in Northern Ireland, welcomed the commitment towards implementing the recommendations.

“The PBNI had experienced significant changes since the full inspection with a reconstituted board, a new chief executive and a restructured senior leadership team,” she said.

“The benefits of these were evident to inspectors in this follow-up review with improvements to organisational culture and trusted relationships.

“There is no doubt that staff feel the PBNI is a better place to work than when inspectors undertook their inspection fieldwork in 2019.”

She added: “The chief executive and her leadership team approached the self-assessment for this follow-up review in a pragmatic and honest way.

“As an inspectorate, we don’t always find that, and it was refreshing to work with an organisation that truly reflects on its practice and recognises that there is more to be done; not only with the 2020 inspection report recommendations but by authentically embracing an ethos of continuous improvement.

“I am ambitious about how the PBNI progresses as an organisation in the future but much more importantly, the PBNI and its staff are ambitious for what their future holds and the vital services they deliver. 

“CJI will return to inspect probation practice within the PBNI and work to complete the implementation of the remaining recommendations as part of a future inspection programme.”

Probation Board chairman Max Murray welcomed the findings.

“The findings in this review are very welcome and demonstrate the substantial efforts made over the last few years to make improvements to organisational culture and probation practice,” he said.

“Significantly, staff feel that PBNI is a better place to work than when inspectors undertook their fieldwork in 2019. That is very heartening.

“I want to commend chief executive Amanda Stewart for driving forward a programme of organisational and cultural change, and bringing staff alongside her on this journey, which has yielded such clear results. 

“We have more to do but this review is a resounding endorsement of the work that has taken place to date.”

Ms Stewart said: “Within probation we have worked hard to develop our practice and ensure we have a clear focus and operational grip on reducing and managing the risks of serious harm and keeping our communities safer.

“Every day probation staff are working to tackle the causes of offending and protect the public. That includes tackling and preventing domestic abuse, sexual offending and providing support to victims of crime.

“We have a lot more to do but today’s report underlines that the approach we have adopted, including having a much sharper focus on professional curiosity and introducing a trauma informed model of practice, is making a difference.”