Children's services to be allowed to seek ‘Ofsted exemption'

Provisions contained in the new Children and Social Work Bill, which was laid before parliament last week, are intended to give councils the ability "to test different ways of working" within children’s services.

Besides offering the prospect of exemptions from children’s services inspections, the proposed legislation could also pave the way for councils not to be subject to inquiries held by the Children’s Commissioner for England.

Meanwhile, councils would be able to request that their local safeguarding children board be scrapped or that they no longer be required to have a designated director of children’s services.

Any requests will have to be signed off by the Education Secretary, who will be given the power to "exempt a local authority in England from a requirement imposed by children's social care legislation".

Applications must be made by the council in question, or, if a council is subject to central government intervention, by a "relevant person", such as a DfE-appointed children's services commissioner.

Children’s social care legislation is listed in the bill as including the Children Act 2004, which includes legislation around children’s services inspections, the role of the children’s commissioner, and requirements around establishing local safeguarding children boards and appointing a director of children’s services among a raft of other things.

The term is also defined in the bill as relating to the first schedule of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, as well as sections 23C to 24D of the Children Act 1989.

An exemption could in theory be granted in relation to joint targeted area inspections, which are carried out under Section 20 of the Children Act 2004.

It would not apply to single inspection framework (SIF) visits, which are carried out under a different piece of legislation - Section 136 of the Education and Inspection Act 2006.

It is not clear whether a new inspection system currently being developed, which is likely to be introduced once the SIF is completed in December 2017, would be liable to exemptions.

In circumstances where exemptions can be granted, the Education Secretary will be given powers to sanction them for a period of three years. Although this can potentially be extended for a further three years.

The bill does stipulate however, that prior to granting an exemption to a local authority the Education Secretary must consult with the chief inspector of Ofsted and the Children's Commissioner for England.

The legislation is intended to "enable a local authority in England to test different ways of working with a view to achieving better outcomes under children's social care legislation or achieving the same outcomes more efficiently". Government intends to make the bill law by 2017.

Andy Elvin, chief executive of The Adolescent and Children's Trust, said that while greater freedom from regulation within some areas of social work are welcome, some of the potential implications of the proposed legislation are concerning.

He said removing the requirement for children's services to be subject to inquiries conducted by the Children's Commissioner for England would be "dangerous".

"They are an independent overseer, and should be allowed to go where they see fit," he said.

"It is quasi-independent at best, but if government legislates to give powers to exempt councils, that would make it the lap dog of Secretary of State.

"There are plenty of things you can do to reduce regulatory burden, but that is not one of them."

The government has previously said that a “fundamental cultural shift” featuring a greater degree of risk-taking is necessary in order to improve standards within children’s social care.

And Ofsted has been in talks with the DfE about how to inspect children’s services departments that take “measured risks”. Ofsted has previously said that a future children’s services inspection system is likely to be lighter touch.