Eleanor Schooling, National Director, Social Care and Lisa Pascoe, Deputy Director, Social Care, gave this presentation 'Where we are at and the future of inspection' at the National Children and Adult Services Conference 2015. It covers children's services inspection.

1. NCAS conference – where we
are now and the future of
inspection
Eleanor Schooling and
Lisa Pascoe
14 October 2015

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Inspections now
 single inspections (SIF) of all local authorities
 joint targeted area inspections (JTAI) in a small number of
places from end 2015 – initial ‘deep dive’ into child sexual
exploitation and missing children. Individual area report plus
overarching thematic
 single targeted inspections – not a programme of inspection
– ‘off the shelf’ framework for use as needed

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Inspections now: the SIF – strengths,
opportunities and challenges
 The first ever look at help, protection, children looked after and
permanence, adoption, impact of fostering service and experiences
of care leavers all in one inspection
 Reduced number of inspections but perceived as increasing
inspection
 Intense but comprehensive baseline
 Much increased focus on children’s experiences and practice
 Inspecting alongside practitioners, not about focus groups or ‘tick
box’ inspection
 Challenge of ‘requires improvement’ = ‘requires improvement to be
good’
 Report format revised to better reflect improvement and trajectory

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Inspection now: joint targeted
inspection (JTAI)
 With HMIC, CQC and HMI Probation
 What does my organisation bring to the task of keeping children
safe?
 Tight focused scope delivered in one week
 ‘Front door’; ‘deep dive’; leadership and management and LSCB
 2015/16 – CSE focus initially to reflect ministerial commitment
 Future ‘deep dive’ focus would be different
 Small number (no more than six) in 2015/16 (using thematic
inspection resource)
 Still refining methodology
 Report to all partners and LSCB

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Inspection now: single targeted
inspection
 Working to the same methodology and scope as the JTAI
 Not a programme – available when needed e.g. additional
concerns post a SIF inspection
 Alternative to repeat SIF where concerns suggest a further
inspection is warranted. Intended to make any further
Ofsted inspection proportionate and targeted.

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Early thoughts: what could be done in
the future that is different?
 more proportionate – some universal – much less of it and
addressing basics
 complemented by targeted inspection in some places or by
theme. Designed to lever change in most challenging
aspects of the system
 important that we maintain a focus on children looked after
and care leavers
 concerns lead to a fuller inspection – like a single
inspection? – public assurance

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Early thoughts: what the sector has
told us so far… (1)
 a universal inspection model that focuses on the ‘front door’
is a good barometer for practice. May need a different
model of inspection to include children looked after
 more frequent visits would be supported if they were short
and focussed, performance can decline or improve rapidly
 proportionate is about the depth and breadth and not just
frequency
 there is an important role for self-assessment in determining
the shape of individual inspections
 yes use the SIF as a baseline but take into account other
more recent information and any self-assessment

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Early thoughts: what the sector has
told us so far… (2)
 application of a one-word judgement can be unhelpful and can
mask important variations that may exist within that system
 inadequate judgements often create instability in the workforce,
both locally and in neighbouring authorities and can create risk
adverse practice
 making the scope of inspection tighter and making greater use of
themed approaches could divert attention away from other critical
areas
 periodically changing the ‘theme/deep dive’ would ensure that local
services are compelled to remain ‘inspection ready’ on all fronts
 thematic inspection provides useful insight but sometimes least
useful for those local authorities that take part as they do not
receive individual feedback or external recognition

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On the table…
 how to secure further improved focus on the experiences
and views of children and young people
 size of inspections
 breadth vs depth vs frequency
 universal inspection vs targeting issues and places
 a role for self-assessment/peer evaluation
 a role for serving practitioners on the inspection team

10. small
number
Universal inspection
Biennial?
Depth proportionate to risk?
Focus on the ‘front door’ plus a ‘deep dive’ into a cohort of children from the SIF scope?
Self-assessment
Pre-inspection information
(including previous inspection outcomes)
Significant
concerns
Single Inspection
Framework (SIF)
Individual LA
report
Overarching thematic reports
Individual area
report
Joint Targeted Area
Inspection
small
number
Thematic
inspection
Number to be
determined
Ofsted only
targeted
inspection
Individual LA
report
Individual LA
report
Significant
concerns
Potential inspection landscape 2017

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https://www.gov.uk/ofsted
http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/
And many of our presentations are at:
Ofsted on the web and on social media
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@Ofstednews
http://www.slideshare.net/Ofstednews