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A senior official at the Town Hall’s beleaguered youth offending service has resigned, the Tribune can reveal.

The resignation comes amid concerns over the effectiveness of the service, which was found to be failing to adequately protect young people from violence and gangs in a damning report in January.

Meanwhile, Islington Council has drafted in a new head from the national Youth Justice Board, which oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales, to turn the department around. The council said it was not yet in a position to name the successful candidate.

The Tribune has not been able to establish when and why the official, who had been in post for a number of years, left, and whether it was before or after the report in January which found the department lacked effective management and had a poor working relationship with police. The departure is understood to have been by mutual consent.

The new appointment comes as Caroline Russell, opposition councillor for Highbury East, urged children and young people chief Councillor Joe Caluori to “get a grip” on the management of the service and do more to support staff, at a meeting of the council’s policy and performance scrutiny committee last week.

Speaking afterwards, Cllr Russell said: “The report is absolutely damning. It seems people in the youth offending service don’t get the management they deserve.

“At [last week’s] meet­ing I did not get a sense of urgency, or that they are taking responsibility for the governance and management. That’s worrying.

“They need to make sure staff have all the training to keep these young people safe and to keep the public safe. It’s not about criticising staff but making sure that they have adequate support to deal with a really tough and growing situation.”

Islington has been subject to two inspections by HMI Probation since 2014, when it was revealed that more than half of young criminals in the borough re-offend, compared to 37 per cent nationally.

Inspectors found that staff “lacked specific and targeted training and management oversight and support”. Work on reducing re-offending was inadequate because of “miscommunication” between police and council officers, “confusion of efforts” and “duplication of some work”.

The service’s weakest area of practice, the report said, was protecting youngsters from violence.

Staff were able to identify issues that made children vulnerable, but there was a lack of understanding of how to protect gang members themselves, their family members and girls who might be sexually exploited by gangs.

Cllr Caluori said the issue was a “very high priority” for the council. The council has made other appointments in senior positions, including a new restorative justice coordinator who will mediate between young offenders and victims.

In addition, staff are now sharing offices with police. And a police sergeant has been appointed to oversee Safer Schools, a scheme which tries to steer young people away from crime, Cllr Caluori said.

“We take this issue incredibly seriously,” he added.

Islington has pledged to spend an extra £500,000 on “targeted support” for young people at risk of turning to gang crime.