Cllr Mark Joy, Shadow Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Education, said:
“We are disappointed with the recent inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation where Medway’s youth justice service was rated as Requires Improvement. This was despite the improvement on planning and delivery (rated good) by the Medway Council Children’s Services team. This is an improvement from the required improvement rating in the last report, showing sustained progress by the team over this time, with both assessing and work with victims both being rated requires improvement.
We are very disappointed with integrated health services, which were highlighted within the report for failing to support, yet again letting down some of the most vulnerable children within Medway.
The other area highlighted was the failing of Kent Police letting down victims, which is concerning. We will be raising these concerns with the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner and Borough and Divisional Commanders at the earliest opportunity.
We thank the staff within the Medway Council Children’s Services for the hard work in moving the rating towards good and will continue to push partner agencies to deliver the support needed.
The administration continues to have our full support with delivering progress in this area.”
ENDS
