Ofsted considers scrapping overall ratings for children's services

Instead of giving children's services an overall rating from "outstanding" through to "inadequate", the change could mean only specific service areas being graded.

A response to a consultation that took place on the inspectorate's plans for replacing the controversial single inspection framework states that Ofsted plans to retain the current four-point grading scale for inspections. ?

However, it adds that the inspectorate wants to test whether an overall effectiveness judgment adds value or "whether it is better just to grade the key practice areas" - such as child protection, children in care, care leavers, and leadership.

A final decision will be made based on pilot inspections due to be conducted this year.

"We will make a decision on the most appropriate graded judgment areas for the new inspections following the pilot inspections and taking account of the views of the local authorities that participate in the pilot inspections, the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS), the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace) and the Local Government Association," the consultation response states.

"We will also discuss this with the Department for Education (DfE) and ministers to ensure that they have the information they need to make decisions about intervention and about the quality of practice in the sector more widely."

Overall judgment ratings for children's services departments have proved unpopular within local authorities in recent years, with children's services leaders claiming they often do not reflect the nuanced nature of service provision.

There are also concerns that ratings can negatively impact on staff morale and make it difficult to recruit staff in order to improve services - perpetuating a negative cycle.

The government currently uses the overall judgment rating as a guide for whether to step in and intervene where standards are not good enough.

Since the single inspection framework was introduced in November 2013, a total of 31 councils of the 129 inspected have been rated "inadequate" - 24 per cent of the total.

An Ofsted spokesman said: "We will continue to judge the overall quality of children's experiences and the progress they make on the four point scale.

"However, as we run the pilots we will consider whether the overall judgment adds extra value or if it would be better to only grade key practice areas."

The final inspection framework will be published by the end of the year for implementation from January 2018.

The new framework will see a shift from a single inspection applied universally to all local authorities to a more proportionate approach that takes account of earlier performance and current data and intelligence.

There will be a basic inspection for all councils every three years, but this will be a shorter inspection for local authorities that were rated "good" or "outstanding" at their previous inspection. Fuller probes will be conducted if concerns are identified.

The current approach to local authorities that are rated inadequate, where they are subject to quarterly monitoring visits, will remain in place.

Initial plans for the new inspection system were unveiled in February 2016, with Ofsted saying it wanted to create a system that is less demanding for councils to reflect the pressures they face as a result of funding cuts.

Ofsted has also published a new social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) for a range of regulated children's social care settings which will come into effect from 1 April.

At present there are several variations in the inspection guidance for social care providers across settings such as children's homes, boarding schools and independent fostering agencies, and differences in the criteria used by Ofsted to make judgments on each type of service.

From April, three consistent principles will link all Ofsted inspections of children's social care providers. These will be focusing on the things that matter most to children's lives, be consistent in our expectations of providers, and prioritising work where improvement is needed most.

Eleanor Schooling, Ofsted's national director of social care, said: "The SCCIF is an important step forward in Ofsted setting out clearly and consistently what we think matters most to children's lives wherever they live or receive help.

"For the first time, we are setting out the same expectations for all social care establishments and agencies while still recognising the unique work that they do.

"We think this not only makes it clearer and more consistent for providers but also sets out how our inspections will consistently focus on the difference providers are making to children's lives."