“Do we ask often enough?”

In November 2011, West Yorkshire Probation Trust commissioned a review of the probation journey as experienced by people with a hidden learning disability or limited English. The aim was to identify barriers within the service and make recommendations to inform equality objectives for 2012 -2013.
David Odunukwe and Helen Wollaston, former members of West Yorkshire Criminal Justice Board’s Diversity Panel, conducted the review by means of background research and interviews with staff and service users.
They found a wealth of evidence to indicate that people with learning disability and learning difficulties are over-represented in the criminal justice system, as are members of minority communities, yet Probation does not have a systematic approach to ensure they are provided with an accessible and equitable service.Taken together, compliance with the Equality Act 2010, a push for a more personalised approach to reducing reoffending based on desistance theory and competition from the independent sector make a compelling case for improving support for people with these protected characteristics.