The Department for Education and Skills has proposed a minimum of oneinspection a year for all children's homes, a reduction from the currentminimum of twice a year while services judged as poor could be inspectedat least three times a year.
But Jonathan Stanley, principal officer at the National Centre forExcellence in Residential Child Care, insisted that twice-yearlyinspections should continue to be the norm.
"Residential child care has always benefited from and ensured thesafeguarding of children through three complementary sets of evidence,"he said. These include internal monitoring by a manager and outsideevaluation by an external manager or consultant. "Both of these aremonitored by the regulator. To keep these related to the life of thesetting requires twice-yearly inspection," he said.
Andrew Rome, spokesman for the Independent Children's Homes Association,agreed.
"We are concerned about a reduction in the frequency of inspectionsbecause our members value the input of inspectors from the Commissionfor Social Care Inspection. That said, our initial view is that wesupport the spirit of the consultation, which is trying to focusinspection where it is most needed."
Stanley said that twice-yearly inspections of children's homes could bebetter used to gather and share best practice. "Inspections are full ofuntapped potential. They are a mechanism that could enable us to gatheran up-to-date idea of the state of practice. If the regulators andregional commissioning bodies could co-ordinate the data, those settingsstruggling in one area of practice could be supported by another settingwith good practice. To do this we need twice-yearly inspections."
The DfES consultation also proposes changing the frequency at whichfostering services are inspected from a minimum of once a year to aminimum of once every three years.
David Holmes, chief executive of the British Association for Adoption &Fostering, said: "Making inspection proportionate is probably alright ifit means inspectors can concentrate on services that are failing. Butthe annual inspection is a safeguard. The risk of less frequentinspection is that standards will slip."
But Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, said:"The decision to reduce the frequency of inspection has been welltrailed and seems sensible. Inspections are important in ensuringservices meet regulatory standards, but they can also be a burden."
The deadline for responding to the consultation paper is 10November.
- www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/conDetails.cfm?consultationId=1390.
