Press Releases

January 2021

Chief Inspectors: ‘Crown Court delays pose greatest risk to criminal justice’ All four of Her Majesty’s Justice Chief Inspectors have united to express “grave concerns” about the potential long-term impact of Covid-19-related court backlogs on the criminal justice system across England and Wales.

Published: 19 January 2021

February 2020

A programme originally set up to tackle persistent offenders has “lost its way” and better leadership is needed to get it back on track, according to inspectors. Integrated Offender Management (IOM) was supposed to bring together police, probation services and other agencies to identify and manage repeat offenders in local communities. HM Inspectorate of Probation […]

Published: 28 February 2020

January 2020

Building successful domestic abuse prosecutions without the victim’s support is possible but challenging for police and prosecutors. A joint report published by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has concluded that the handling of evidence led domestic abuse prosecutions requires improvement. If […]

Published: 23 January 2020

October 2019

Children and young people released from young offender institutions are getting too little support in the community and are being “set up to fail”, according to a new report. HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Prisons followed the experiences of 50 children and young people released from all five young offender institutions across England […]

Published: 08 October 2019

August 2019

Young offender institutions (YOIs) are largely failing to prepare children they release to live safe, law-abiding and productive lives in the community, according to a new report by two criminal justice inspectorates. In too many case, those released do not have suitable accommodation lined up in time for the necessary support services to be put […]

Published: 08 August 2019

October 2018

The report published today by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) reviews the progress made since the last update, published in 2015, on the 2013 joint report: Living in a Different World (PDF, 2 MB). The 2015 update was critical of the […]

Published: 09 October 2018

March 2018

Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) and police are doing often effective work to keep children who have committed mostly low-level offences out of the formal criminal justice system, according to a joint criminal justice inspectorate report. Inspectors from HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services looked at work in […]

Published: 28 March 2018

November 2017

Lack of training and knowledge means probation officers are not adequately assessing risks to children and others from offenders addicted to synthetic drugs such as Spice, according to a report from HM Inspectorate of Probation. Launching the report, Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, said work to tackle the prevalence, impact and treatment […]

Published: 29 November 2017

July 2017

Inspectors find widespread concerns with disclosure practices across the criminal justice system A joint inspection by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found widespread failures across the criminal justice system when it comes to disclosure of evidence.

Published: 17 July 2017

June 2017

Support for prisoners leaving jail and moving back into the community was poor and the work of most Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) was not making any difference, according to the Chief Inspectors of Probation and Prisons. The government’s Transforming Rehabilitation reforms were meant to improve rehabilitation, but those good intentions have not been realised. The […]

Published: 21 June 2017