Ofsted to launch review of local authority inspection process

Ofsted is to launch a consultation on local authority inspection reform by the end of this month, John Goldup told delegates at the annual Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) conference.

The inspectorate is going to have a new inspection model designed by the end of this year, which will be implemented by mid-2012. Goldup said the redesign would start from the ground up, focusing on the purpose of social care inspection.

“We have been asking ourselves: are we inspecting the right things in the right way, using the right evidence?” he said. “Is inspection supporting improvement and how could it do so much more effectively?”

Goldup said the reform process was sparked into action in part by Eileen Munro’s review of child protection, which said inspection needed to address the fact that no single agency is entirely responsible for a child’s journey through the social care system.

Ofsted’s role assessing serious case reviews will be another Munro-inspired consideration in the reforms, Goldup said.

“I think it’s absolutely right that the resources which inspection invests in the evaluation of serious case reviews would be better deployed in scrutinising the learning that has taken place on the ground as a result of serious case reviews,” he said.

“That’s going to be a strong part of the model we will be consulting on by the end of this month.”