THE youth offending team in North Yorkshire has been praised for its committed and enthusiastic management.

But inspectors said it must carry out more preventative work and forge closer links with parents and carers.

The county's youth offending team (YOT) was inspected between July and September. All 155 YOTs in England and Wales are inspected about every five years.

Andrew Bridges, the chief inspector of probation, said: "A new head of YOT had been appointed in January and had quickly identified what changes needed to be made and had implemented different working practices to improve performance.

"Overall, we judged that North Yorkshire YOT was well-placed to address the issues raised."

He praised the vision of the team's management board and said: "We found a positive and professional staff team led by committed and enthusiastic managers.

"However, there were a number of areas of practice that required development, in particular reparation opportunities, and work with parents/carers.

"Preventative work was very much in its infancy in the west of the county, although the east had two very successful schemes in existence.

"Other areas where improvements to current service were needed included referrals to child and adolescent mental health services, accommodation and employment, training and education."