Service chiefs lack faith in Ofsted

Asked if Ofsted's current workforce of inspectors is up to the job, 88 per cent of respondents said no and only 12 per cent said yes.

Questioned as to whether chief inspector Christine Gilbert is the right person to lead the watchdog, 72 per cent replied no, while 28 per cent answered yes.

Opinion was split on the issue of whether or not Ofsted should continue to inspect children's social care. Just over half of directors came out in favour of the inspectorate continuing to scrutinise such work. But 48 per cent said that this part of its remit should be removed.

The survey, which was sent to all 152 directors of children's services, elicited 25 responses.

Gordon Jeyes, director of children's services in Cambridgeshire, admitted that Ofsted's new inspections regime has positive elements.

"There is much to be said for the current arrangements in that they focus on areas of greatest concern and seek to build capacity for self-evaluation. This should lead to improvements in safeguarding and for looked-after children. Also, the ethos of unannounced inspections seems right," he explained.

However, he claimed that a number of inspectors are not up to scratch. "The climate of professional infallibility and lack of credibility of some inspectors causes problems," he said.

"In addition, the obsession with grades is counter-productive. A report that spoke in terms of satisfactory or not, with a list of areas of strength and areas for development would be far better."

Shireen Ritchie, chair of the Local Government Association's children and young people board, said councils want to work with Ofsted to improve inspections.

But she added: "We still don't feel that some of their tick-box approaches to inspections are the best way to improve services."

A spokeswoman for Ofsted said the watchdog is committed to engaging with the sector.

"Protecting children is at the heart of all that we do - and feedback on the ground is positive," she said. "Our inspectors are qualified and knowledgeable.

"We are confident that our inspections are robust, take account of the right information, ask the right questions and speak to the right people."

Read the editor's view: Outstanding challenge for Ofsted