The children's services inspectorate has responded by installing a new management structure effective from September (see p8), which is welcome. The creation of a development director role for social care and two-dozen extra social care inspectors is particularly encouraging, since much of the concern surrounding the watchdog has related to how it carries out its responsibilities in safeguarding.
Post-Baby P, Ofsted is an anxious, defensive institution. The holder of the new director post, who will report to chief inspector Christine Gilbert, will need to have a fine pedigree and a strong nerve.
But changes to Ofsted's structure alone won't resolve other deeper, cultural issues, certainly not overnight. Inspection of children's social care transferred from the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) to Ofsted two years ago this week. Unfortunately for Ofsted, this wasn't matched by a transfer of expertise, much of which stayed at CSCI to work in adult social care. The result is that despite its wider responsibilities, and as it now embarks on the new Comprehensive Area Assessment, it remains a heavily education-driven beast.
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