Unannounced child protection inspections: Are you ready?

In a few months' time, teams responsible for safeguarding children could be facing a new regime of no-notice, two-week long Ofsted inspections.

The proposed framework will see a considerable increase in the number of individual case files being examined by inspectors and place much more emphasis on the day-to-day work of frontline practitioners and the experience of children and families.  

The initiative is designed to move inspections away from what some politicians and media columnists have described as a ‘data-driven exercise' and focus more on a council's ability to intervene earlier to improve outcomes for individual children and their families.

Will this result in inspections placing far less emphasis on data in the future?

This seems unlikely. Teams will still need to demonstrate that they are working efficiently and effectively to keep children safe when the inspectors call.

With the right permissions in place, holding multi-agency data on children and families electronically can make it easier for teams to identify families in need. This data also helps inform decisions on how services can intervene earlier to prevent problems from escalating and putting children at risk of harm. Being able to show where interventions have successfully addressed issues such as household poverty and substance abuse within the family, before they develop into a safeguarding crisis, will be key to a successful inspection.