Local government bodies have used the consultation into the proposed reforms of children's services inspections to raise serious misgivings about how they will work in practice and whether they will drive improvement.
The Ofsted consultation on proposals to bring together inspections for child protection and looked-after children's services closed this month. Even before the detail has been assessed, the timing of the inspection revamp, due to be introduced in November, has been questioned in light of Ofsted's announcement that this will be usurped in April 2015 by multi-agency inspections.
In addition to the timescales, a key concern is Ofsted's desire to introduce an overall performance rating chosen from four standard Ofsted grades of: outstanding; good; requires improvement; and inadequate. This rating would be based on how departments perform in three key areas: services for children who need protection; looked-after children (including adopted children and care leavers); and leadership, management and governance.
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