Ofsted has published their new inspection framework. It includes a formal yearly conversation with Ofsted about performance, and authorities will be asked to evaluate the quality and impact of their social work practice. The new inspection regime has been piloted over the past year, and the final plan is for:
- Short inspections: Authorities judged to be ‘good’ or better will be inspected for a one-week short inspection every three year
- Standard inspections: Authorities judge to be ‘requires improvement to be good’ will be inspected for two weeks every three years
- Monitoring visits: Authorities rated ‘inadequate’ will be visited quarterly. Those rated ‘inadequate’ across all or most areas will repeat a full single inspection, while local authorities with only some areas ‘inadequate’ may be subject to a ‘post-monitoring single inspection’, which is a shorter inspection under the single inspection framework
- Focused visits: Authorities rated above ‘inadequate’ will receive at least one focused visit between their short or standard inspections.
The national director for social care at Ofsted, Eleanor Schooling, has said this new approach has been arranged to focus on the experiences of children and families.
