07/2011 - Leading care charity raises concerns over Ofsted’s proposals for looked-after children services inspection

27 July 2011

The Who Cares? Trust is concerned that proposals published by Ofsted today will remove the guarantee that all local authorities will be judged on the quality and effectiveness of the services they provide for children in care.  Ofsted are proposing to introduce an arrangement where only a sample of 20 to 25 of the 150 local authorities will be inspected each year with no guarantee that they would all be covered.  The charity says this risks allowing poor practice to continue unchecked.  

Natasha Finlayson, Chief Executive of The Who Cares? Trust, said:

‘The Who Cares? Trust is extremely concerned to learn that Ofsted is considering abandoning proper scrutiny of the help local authorities provide to children in care.  These changes come despite the fact that the latest data shows that more than half of local authorities’ looked-after children’s services were judged by Ofsted to be ‘Inadequate’ or ‘Satisfactory’.¹

‘Today’s announcement by Ofsted of new arrangements for the inspection of looked-after children’s services look to us like a downgrading of the importance placed on the quality of life and outcomes experienced by children in care.  Ofsted have said that there have been “significant improvements” for children in care, but the truth is that outcomes for these children remain poor in all local authorities, relative to their peers who are not in care. To take just one example, in 2010 there wasn’t a single local authority where GCSE results for children in care were as good as their peers.  

‘These proposals  mean that some of the most vulnerable children in our society will be abandoned to an even more extreme postcode lottery in terms of the quality of support offered by local authorities than is already the case.  We will be seeking assurances that these proposals will be reconsidered and that all local authorities will be held to account for the experience and outcomes of children in their care.’

¹ Ofsted Annual Report 2009/10 shows that Overall Effectiveness for 16 out of 29 local authorities looked-after children’s services inspected that year was either “inadequate” or “satisfactory”.

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Notes to editors

1) The Who Cares? Trust is a UK-wide charity that works to improve the lives of children and young people in care. We do this by:

• using our expertise and influence with government policy-makers
• informing, empowering and supporting children and young people in care, through our magazines and other publications and through projects and campaigns which directly benefit them, and
• producing information and support materials for foster carers and professionals as a means to improving the lives of children in care.

2) For media enquiries please contact Jemma Roche on 0207 017 2788 or email jemma.roche@thewhocarestrust.org.uk

The Who Cares? Trust is a registered charity (No. 1010518). A Company limited by guarantee. Registered in London (No. 2700693). VAT Reg. No. 577853091
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