Consultation: Ofsted inspection of Cafcass

What is it all about? Ofsted wants to change the way that it inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass ), which is the organisation responsible for representing children in the family courts. The proposals follow a restructure of Cafcass, which has seen the number of regional offices that it runs drop from 21 to 17.

What are the main points? Under the existing arrangements, Ofsted inspects the 17 Cafcass areas one at a time and publishes an individual inspection report for each. In place of this, Ofsted wants to carry out one large inspection of Cafcass each year and publish a single report.

It believes the change will help Cafcass understand what it does well and what it could do better across the entire organisation. Under the plans, up to six of the 17 areas would be chosen for inspection each year. There would also be an inspection of Cafcass’s head office.

Ofsted inspections are currently carried out without notice, something it wants to continue under the new system.

The watchdog gathers evidence from children and young people as part of Cafcass inspections, but wants to improve the way that this is done. In addition to maintaining the current system where inspectors speak to children and young people during the inspection, it wants to introduce an online survey so that those who have recently been represented by a Cafcass worker can give their views.

Meanwhile, it is proposed that Ofsted continues to evaluate how well Cafcass is performing based on four key measures. These are the effectiveness with which it safeguards and promotes the welfare of children; the quality of its practice; the organisation’s leadership and governance, and its overall effectiveness.

Who can have a say? The consultation is intended for children and families service providers, children and young people, and parents and carers. Other interested parties are also welcome to give their views.

When does it close? 12 March.

When will the results be published? The responses will be considered prior to a decision being taken on how future inspections should be conducted. Two reports on the new inspection regime will be published on the Ofsted website – one for children and one for adults – with the changes coming into effect from September 2013.