Ofsted children's services inspections hit by funding problems

Minutes of board-level discussions reveal that the inspectorate is considering changes to the controversial single inspection framework (SIF) because it is struggling to complete the full cycle of inspections in time.

It has also taken the decision to reduce the number of inspectors taking part in inspections to ease pressure on resources.

First introduced in November 2013, all local authorities in England were due to have an inspection under the single inspection framework by November 2016, as part of a three-year cycle.

Nearly two years into the inspection cycle a total of 70 inspection reports have been published – making up 46 per cent of the total.

Documents published today by the Department for Education reveal that earlier this year Education Secretary Nicky Morgan granted a request to extend the cycle by around five months – to 31 March 2017.

An internal quarterly performance report put together by Ofsted covering January to March 2015 reveals that, for local authority inspections under SIF and for regulatory work, the inspectorate continues to be “significantly under-resourced against agreed budgets”.

It adds that the target of 47 inspections for the year was missed by seven.

“The Secretary of State has approved a request to extend the cycle to 31 March 2017,” the report states.

“However completion of the cycle remains at risk due to resource.”    

Meanwhile minutes of a meeting from August reveal that Ofsted is contemplating changes to the SIF so it can complete the inspection cycle to schedule.

"We are currently reviewing the scope of the SIF inspection which although comprehensive, is expensive in terms of inspector time," the minutes state.

"The decision has been taken to reduce the size of inspection team by one inspector from the beginning of September and we are considering whether other savings are possible without affecting our commitment to complete the programme by the end of March 2017.

"The DfE asked to be kept in the loop if there is any risk to the delivery of SIF inspections by end of March 2017."

In August it emerged that three-quarters of English children’s services departments assessed under the SIF have been given the two lowest ratings “inadequate”, or “requires improvement”.

Critics of the SIF, including the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, chief executives' group Solace, the Local Government Association, and private consultancy firm Impower, argue that it is “no longer fit for purpose” as it fails to assess the involvement of other agencies and places too great a burden on departments.

News of Ofsted's resource problems comes little more than a week after the inspectorate's new interim director of social care Eleanor Schooling said the inspectorate will launch a drive to recruit serving frontline staff to carry out inspections of children’s services departments on its behalf.

Schooling replaced previous director of social care Debbie Jones who resigned little more than 18 months after she took up post in September 2013.

An Ofsted spokeswoman said: "We remain committed to the single inspection framework programme, and are currently undertaking a recruitment drive to bring in more serving practitioners to our workforce to help carry out these important inspections.
 
"While there are no plans to amend the SIF, we always keep our work under review to improve inspection.

"As recently shared at the NCAS conference, we are working on a more nimble, proportionate model for inspection of local children's services once the SIF programme has been completed.
 
"We will keep the sector fully informed if there are any further changes to the intended completion date for the programme."