The Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) inspection framework looks at leadership of children’s services including how well leaders are grasping issues and building capacity for improvement where there are signs of deterioration in services. Ofsted condense their analysis into three questions – which are useful for you to have in mind as part of your role in the ‘strategic quartet’.
- What do you know about the quality and impact of social work practice with children and families in your authority?
- How do you know it?
- What are your plans to maintain or improve practice?
These questions are part of an annual conversation discussion between the council and Ofsted with forms part of the ILACS framework, together with the council’s annual self-evaluation.
Leaders should also be aware that Ofsted do from time to time undertake a focused visit of a council which is part of the ILACS framework. Joint Targeted Area Inspections (JTAIs) which also cover partners and involve multiple inspectorates, are also part of the inspection landscape for children’s services. Youth Justice Services are inspected by HMI Probation and look at the arrangements for organisational delivery of the service, the quality of work done with children sentenced by the courts, and the quality of out-of-court work.
SEND and AP is subject to a separate Ofsted/CQC inspection with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) under the SEND Area Inspection Framework which focuses on how effective the SEND and AP area partnership is in delivering outcomes for children and their families. Ofsted and CQC also undertake thematic visits to a small number of areas each year to investigate a particular aspect of the SEND system in depth.
Leaders should have an understanding of SEND and AP as covered by the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice. This requires the views of children, and their families are taken into account, keeping under review their education and care provision, as well as preparing for adulthood and publishing a local offer. You should also be aware of the strength and quality of your partnership with your ICB and their effectiveness as a joint statutory partner around children’s services, SEND, children’s health and wellbeing, and joint commissioner of services.
In March 2023 the government published the SEND and AP Improvement Plan. There will be new national requirements around reporting data and the establishment of a dashboard so data around local area performance can be published and compared.
Consequences of an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted judgement
The judgement of Ofsted on a council’s children’s services has the capacity to have the most profound impact on children’s services and the wider council and partnership. Councils with an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted judgement need to redirect a huge amount of resource and focus to deliver improvement at pace, all under a media and government spotlight.
Analysis has shown a correlation between local authorities that have an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted judgement and those with high proportions of agency staff and vacancy rates. There are differing views on the cause of the correlation – do councils that do not create the conditions for good social work practice experience higher workforce instability contributing to poor Ofsted outcomes, or do the Ofsted outcomes in part contribute to the workforce instability? It is likely to be a combination, with Ofsted ratings exacerbating existing issues, but low turnover of staff will support social workers to build relationships with children and families. You should ensure that your LMCS has opportunities to update you on agency rates, vacancy rates, and sickness amongst your children’s services workforce, as these can be signatures of risk. Your LMCS should understand the profile and narrative for children’s services caseloads and be alert to changes that could reflect systemic issues.
Local authorities have also found that an Inadequate Ofsted judgement (or a judgement of ‘systemic failings’ for the Area SEND inspection) has affected their ability to recruit and retain experienced staff. This in turn can increase agency staffing spend, just at a time that stability in the workforce and investment in services is most critical to support rapid improvement.
Key questions for leaders:
- Is there a local narrative which helps members better understand how and why children’s services is the way it is. For example rationale for the numbers and proportions of children in care? This can vary substantially within and between authorities, represent the most significant cost pressure and tell you a lot about how services are organised and delivered.
- Is there volatility and variations in key data indicators? For example child protection activity which may signal a deterioration of management grip on the service.
- How strong is your local area partnership around SEND and AP – is there clarity on what is working well and not working well, and the priorities for improvement? Would local parents and carers recognise these priorities?