First Approved Premises report published
Published: 17 September 2025
The launch of our Approved Premises (APs) inspection programme comes at a pivotal point for the Probation Service. The number of places available in APs has been under pressure in recent years, and this is pressure is likely to increase following the introduction of Probation Reset, SDS40 early release scheme and the implementation of the Sentencing Review.
The national network APs is one of the least visible and least well-known corners of the criminal justice system, yet they provide essential support for people leaving prison who are assessed as a risk of serious harm. These individuals require an increased level of monitoring in the community and APs help them to rehabilitate and resettle while ensuring the public are protected during those early months back in the community.
Within our inspections of probation delivery units and regions within the Probation Service, we routinely find public protection to be an area of weakness, with insufficient work being done to keep victims and the public safe from harm. The role APs play in public protection cannot be underestimated and it is crucial that we gain some oversight into this extremely important aspect of probation work. AP staff and managers also deserve to know what they are doing well, and we believe there should be a mechanism for learning from best practice from the AP network.
Currently, APs face no accountability to the public through inspection processes to see how far they are achieving their aims. We believe people deserve to know how well the Probation Service is working to protect communities through the national network of APs.
I am delighted to announce the Southview Approved Premises, the first service inspected in the programme, has been rated ‘Outstanding’. While in our inspections of probation delivery units we routinely find concerning public protection work, at Southview our inspection team found no areas for improvement relating to public protection. Inspectors spoke enthusiastically about the leadership and staff working on the premises and I again want to congratulate them on the invaluable work they do to keep communities safe and reintegrate prison leavers back into the community.
Read the full report of Southview Approved Premises here.
The launch of our Approved Premises (APs) inspection programme comes at a pivotal point for the Probation Service. The number of places available in APs has been under pressure in recent years, and this is pressure is likely to increase following the introduction of Probation Reset, SDS40 early release scheme and the implementation of the Sentencing Review.
The national network APs is one of the least visible and least well-known corners of the criminal justice system, yet they provide essential support for people leaving prison who are assessed as a risk of serious harm. These individuals require an increased level of monitoring in the community and APs help them to rehabilitate and resettle while ensuring the public are protected during those early months back in the community.
Within our inspections of probation delivery units and regions within the Probation Service, we routinely find public protection to be an area of weakness, with insufficient work being done to keep victims and the public safe from harm. The role APs play in public protection cannot be underestimated and it is crucial that we gain some oversight into this extremely important aspect of probation work. AP staff and managers also deserve to know what they are doing well, and we believe there should be a mechanism for learning from best practice from the AP network.
Currently, APs face no accountability to the public through inspection processes to see how far they are achieving their aims. We believe people deserve to know how well the Probation Service is working to protect communities through the national network of APs.
I am delighted to announce the Southview Approved Premises, the first service inspected in the programme, has been rated ‘Outstanding’. While in our inspections of probation delivery units we routinely find concerning public protection work, at Southview our inspection team found no areas for improvement relating to public protection. Inspectors spoke enthusiastically about the leadership and staff working on the premises and I again want to congratulate them on the invaluable work they do to keep communities safe and reintegrate prison leavers back into the community.
Read the full report of Southview Approved Premises here.
Approved premises (APs), formally known as probation hostels, play a key role in managing the risks posed by people released from prison who are deemed too complex or high risk to live independently. Until now, APs have not been subject to any form of independent scrutiny, despite the vital role they play in keeping communities safe and providing effective rehabilitation.
I am therefore delighted to announce that Southview AP – the first in our new AP inspection programme – has been rated as ‘Outstanding’.
We found strong and inspiring leadership, stable staffing, and a passionate and motivated team operating in a safe and welcoming environment within which residents felt respected and supported. As a consequence, managers and staff at Southview AP were deploying effective public protection strategies and engaging its residents in a meaningful programme of rehabilitation.
Striking a balance between protecting the public and rehabilitating people on probation, by establishing a quality relationship, is complex, and in other probation inspection programmes, we often find deficits here. It is clear that the psychologically informed planned environment (PIPE) approach embedded at Southview AP is succeeding in getting this crucial balance right.
We have identified a small number of areas for improvement which would enhance delivery at Southview even further – some of which are the responsibility of national leaders to address. In particular, the slow response to outstanding repairs and required building alterations is causing significant frustrations for staff and residents and must be addressed so as not to detract from the outstanding work being undertaken.
The team at Southview should be extremely proud of what they are achieving. I wish them well for the future.
Martin Jones CBE
HM Chief Inspector of Probation
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/york-probation-hostel-gets-top-230200510.html
ReplyDeleteA probation hostel in York has been rated “outstanding” following a visit from inspectors.
DeleteThe Southview hostel in Boroughbridge Road manages up to 17 men released from prison who are deemed too complex or high risk to live on their own.
Fifteen residents were under its care during the hostel’s first inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, which was carried out as part of a new initiative by the watchdog.
The rating follows York’s wider probation service, the probation delivery unit, being rated inadequate – the lowest possible rating – after its first inspection last year.
Inspectors said they were “impressed” by the public protection work at Southview, which “contrasts with the Inspectorate’s findings across probation delivery units (PDUs) where deficits are often found in this area”.
Their two-day visit at Southview was carried out in July and included off-site inspection of eight cases relating to people who were either still a hostel resident or who had recently left its care.
Inspectors also interviewed current residents about their experiences at Southview, and inspected the hostel's ‘out of hours’ activities, including shift handover processes.
Chief inspector of probation, Martin Jones, said he was “delighted” with the outcome of Southview’s inspection.
“The team are motivated, knowledgeable, and passionate about the work they are doing, and residents praised staff and spoke about their keywork sessions highly,” he said.
He said Southview, and other facilities like it, “play a vital, and perhaps unappreciated, role in the protection of the public by providing safe closely supervised release for some of the most complex people, in the crucial first weeks after their release from custody”.
“This report shines a light on the invaluable work they do to keep communities safe and reintegrate prison leavers back into the community,” Mr Jones added.
Inspectors find a 'warm and welcoming atmosphere and culture' at hostel. They have a “strong relationship” with the police which helps “promote effective risk management and public protection”, the inspection report said.
It added: “There was a warm and welcoming atmosphere and culture, promoted by management and replicated by staff.
“As a consequence, residents were overwhelmingly positive about the [Southview], its culture, and the support provided by staff.”
Staff at Southview are given additional training to understand the psychological and social needs of the residents.