YES: JOHN FREEMAN, director of children's services, Dudley Council - TheJoint Area Review process has been expensive in time and effort for theinspectorates and local authorities. One complaint is that evidence froma few children is extrapolated to a whole area. The change to alighter-touch regime is welcomed. The new arrangements should focus onthe validation of the area's self-assessment, and a review of progressof the children and young people's strategic plan. Fieldwork need onlythen be undertaken where there are causes for concern.
YES: Andrew Cozens, strategic adviser, Improvement and DevelopmentAgency - The JAR framework was built when education and social serviceswere coming together and there was a need to form a judgment about theextent to which councils were focusing on the Every Child Mattersoutcomes. Any judgment about improving outcomes for children is a matterfor the whole council, public and other services. It needs to be moresophisticated in terms of the evidence of improved outcomes, and notsimply counting inputs or measuring outputs.
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