Children's home inspections to focus on young people's experiences

The regulator said the new regime, which will be introduced in April 2015, will set a "good" rating as the benchmark and minimum standard that children and young people should expect. 

Meanwhile, the current "adequate" judgment will be replaced by a judgment of "requires improvement", in line with other Ofsted inspection frameworks.

Instead of the existing overarching judgment on overall effectiveness, homes will be judged on the overall experiences and progress of children and young people living in the home.

Meanwhile, inspectors will make an additional key judgment on how well children and young people are helped and protected.

If a children’s home is judged to be "inadequate" in this area, it will automatically be graded "inadequate" overall.

Inspectors will also award a graded judgment on the impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers.

Debbie Jones, Ofsted’s national director for social care said the new inspection process, which has gone out for consultation, will shine a spotlight on what works well.

“We want children’s homes to provide the best possible care while improving children’s life chances and helping them to successfully manage their lives as young adults,” she said.

“We also recognise the diversity of provision in the residential sector and that one size does not fit all.

“We are proposing a flexible model for inspection, which allows inspectors to use their professional judgment to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the home on the experiences of children and young people.”

An original consultation on the proposals was launched in June 2013, with the changes earmarked to take effect from April 2014.

But Ofsted decided against launching the new inspection framework this year amid concerns that it would have to be redrafted in April 2015, when new quality standards and regulations for children's homes come into force.

The consultation will close on 13 January.