Joined-up child protection inspections must hold all agencies to account, warns LGA

Under the watchdog's plans for the no-notice checks, due to come into force from June 2013, inspections will scrutinise the work of local services including social care, health, education, police, probation and the criminal justice system.

Inspectors will focus on how agencies work together to identify, help and protect children who may be at risk of harm and the two-week inspections will result in a single set of ratings for each local area.

Inspection teams will be led by Ofsted and include representatives from the Care Quality Commission, the police inspectorate, the probation inspectorate, the prisons inspectorate and the Crown Prosecution Service inspectorate.

David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) children and young people board, backed the move towards multi-agency inspections, but warned that councils must not shoulder the blame for failings outside of their control.

“We are slightly concerned about the proposal that there is going to be just one inspection judgement for the area,” he explained.

“Effective child protection does require all of the agencies in an area to work together, but if an area receives an inadequate rating for safeguarding because one of the partner agencies is not fulfilling their duties, we're not sure how that will balance out.

“For example, if an issue emerges with the police, how will the newly elected police and crime commissioners be held to account? Who do they answer to?”

Simmonds argued that Ofsted must make sure that inspection reports are absolutley clear about where problems lie, who is accountable and which agencies must improve.

“Ofsted must make sure that where there are issues relating to the performance of one of the local agencies, that there is clarity about that and about the specific improvements that need to be made,” he said.

“Judgements need to be backed up by sufficient detail, so that we don’t end up with generalised statements about an area.”

Currently, unannounced child protection inspections are carried out by Ofsted, but focus on the performance of local authorities and not health, police, probation and other services.

Ofsted’s deputy chief inspector John Goldup said the new joined up inspections “have real potential for improving the protection of children in this country”.

“Child protection is everybody’s business – it can’t just be left to local authorities,” he said. “I am really pleased that inspectorates have been able to come together to make sure we can effectively scrutinise the performance of the whole system.”

“I hope everyone who has an interest in the welfare of children and young people will take part in the consultations to ensure that we develop and shape inspections that will ultimately raise standards and improve lives for the most vulnerable children in our society.”

The consultation on the new multi-agency arrangements will run until 2 October. Under the proposals areas will receive ratings on four inspection judgements:

• The overall effectiveness of multi-agency work to protect children and young people
• The effectiveness of help and protection
• The quality of practice
• Leadership, governance and partnerships