Exclusive: Ofsted plans care leaver progress judgment in children’s services inspections

The inspectorate told CYP Now that it plans to launch a consultation on the creation of a “discrete” judgment on “the experiences and progress of care leavers” later this year.

The new judgment is likely to be added to four existing categories rated by inspectors as part of Ofsted’s inspections of local authority children’s services (ILACS).

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A spokesperson for Ofsted said: “The pandemic and our recent research has further highlighted the specific vulnerabilities of many care leavers, including a risk of isolation, poor mental health, difficulty in accessing services, and financial concerns. The way we currently look at care leavers’ experiences has shone a light on these issues, but we think we can, and should, go further.

“We are always open to improving what we do, which is why we plan to consult later this year on a discrete standalone judgment on ‘the experiences and progress of care leavers’ in our ILACS.”

People with care experience, children’s social workers and advocacy groups will be among those invited to share their views on the new judgment, the spokesperson added.

In an interview with CYP Now, Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s director of social care, said the consultation is expected to be launched in the spring or summer.

She said that while Ofsted “does not want to increase the inspection burden, local authorities, and providers of all sorts of services, would agree that we should be more ambitious for meeting care leavers’ needs more comprehensively”.

Stanley said that the decision to consult on a new judgment for care leavers feels “really timely” as research published by Ofsted in January showed that more than a third of care leavers feel they left care too early and report feeling “lonely”, “unsafe” and unable to manage finances.

It comes as Ofsted prepares to become the regulator of supported accommodation for 16- and 17-year-olds later this year.

Responding to the announcement, Ed Nixon, a member of Every Child Leaving Care Matters, said: “Yvette Stanley describes the introduction of a new judgment about care leavers services - which I would support - as “really timely”. Really? Outcomes for care leavers have been appalling and unacceptable for decades. Indeed, we had precisely no idea at all of what becomes of 12 per cent of them. Any time would have been timely. Let’s push for having care-experienced members of every ILACS Team.”

Mark Riddell, the Department for Education’s national advisor for care leavers, welcomed plans to introduce the new judgment.

“In the last few years and with the introduction of the new ILACS framework which created a judgment for both permanence and care leavers, I have seen a reduced focus on care leavers,” he said.

Riddell added that he believes a the new judgment should consider aspects of the Children and Social Worker Act 2017 which are related to care leavers, including the corporate parenting principles, as well as extended personal advisor duties to all care leavers up to 25 years.

“Unfortunately the new ILACS came into force before the 2017 Act was enacted and were not explicitly included in the framework. It would also be good to see in the judgment a real focus on key partners and their offer to care leavers especially in light of the pandemic,” he said.