Pembrokeshire County Council’s work in dealing with young youth offenders has been praised in a recent report.
The county’s Youth Offending Team (YOT) scored high marks in the National Audit Office report published in December.
Out of the YOTs inspected in England and Wales, Pembrokeshire’s multi agency team was marked best in the UK in the safeguarding criterion.
It was also marked second in both the risk of reoffending and quality of assessment and planning overall categories.
“This is a marvellous achievement and testament to the hard work of all the people who work with young offenders in our County,” said Councillor Huw George Cabinet Member for Children and Young People.
“They have to strike a balance between the need to protect the public and also ensure that the welfare needs of the young offenders and potential offenders are also safeguarded,” he added.
Pembrokeshire’s Youth Offending Team is one of 157 YOTs across England and Wales, who work with young people from eight to 18 who have offended or who are at risk of re-offending.
Overseen by a local management board, they are multi agency teams with representatives from child care, police, probation, education and health agencies.
Pembrokeshire’s 34-strong team is based within the Council’s Social Services department, but also includes workers from other agencies and services.
It is managed by Liz King, who said: “The success is the result of organised partnership working. We have strong relationships with other agencies, which enables positive sustained outcomes for children and young people.”
Liz also praised the ‘dedication, competence and enthusiasm’ of the members of the Pembrokeshire YOT.
“Our general approach ensures that children receive a service that takes into account individual needs in order to create a change in thinking and behaviour. It’s never a ‘one size fits all’ attitude,” she said.
The National Audit Office report on the youth justice system, which sets out to explore the nature and extent of youth crime and the way in which offending behaviour is dealt with, was published in December 2010.
