The Framework for Inspection of Children's
Services
The Framework will apply to all inspections, reviews and
assessments of settings and other services for children and young
people. The Framework sets out principles to underpin a coherent
approach to evaluating contributions by settings and services to
the five outcomes for children and young people highlighted in
Every Child Matters: staying safe; being healthy; enjoying and
achieving; making a positive contribution; and achieving economic
well-being. The principles are based on recommendations, applying
to inspection generally, made in the report by the Office of Public
Services Reform, Inspecting for Improvement (2003).
The government's Every Child Matters: Change for
Children programme sets out specific aims in relation to each
outcome against which improvement will be measured. The Framework
defines the key judgements associated with these aims which all
relevant inspections of children's services will seek to make,
where it is appropriate and practical to do so. Not all the key
judgements will be covered in each inspection.
For more information please visit
Every Child Matters. (this link opens in a new
window)
Annual Performance Assessment of Council children's
services
From 2005, annual performance assessment will be undertaken
every year in children's services authorities by the Commission for
Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and the Office for Standards in
Education (Ofsted).
Annual performance assessment will replace the current
performance assessment of children's social care undertaken
previously by the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) and, latterly,
by CSCI; and the existing basis for the education rating used in
the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).
Annual performance assessment is designed to:
- support better outcomes for children and young people in the
local area, by, for example, improving the quality of children's
services through the development of effective partnership and
inter-agency working
- provide a framework for effective performance management and
review of children's services in local areas
- establish what action needs to be taken to improve the quality
of children's services in each local area, for instance, by
developing more effective preventive services
- provide children and young people, their parents and carers and
the general public with an independent judgement on the performance
of their local council in improving children's
services.
Scope Of Annual Performance Assessment
Annual performance assessment will assess the council's specific
contributions to improving outcomes for children and young people.
It will focus on the council's contribution through its education
and social care functions and will cover the contribution of other
services, for example the youth offending team, where relevant.
Annual performance assessment ratings will be made on:
- the overall contribution of the local council children's
services to the five outcomes for children and young people, on the
basis of separate judgements
- the contribution of the council's education functions
- the contribution of the council's children's social care
functions
- the council's capacity to improve.
Key Judgements
The following Key Judgements relate specifically to Looked After
Children:
- Key Judgement 1.5: Looked after children's
health needs are addressed
- Key Judgement 2.7: Looked after children live
in safe environments and are protected from abuse and
exploitation
- Key Judgement 3.7: Children and young people
who are looked after are helped to enjoy and achieve
- Key Judgement 4.6: Children and young people
who are looked after are helped to make a positive
contribution
- Key Judgement 5.6: Children and young people
who are looked after are helped to achieve economic
well-being.
For further information, please download a full copy of the
OfSTED Annual Performance Assessment.
Joint Area Reviews
Joint area reviews will be carried out in each children's
services authority area over a three-year period beginning in
September 2005. These reviews will focus on the experience of
children and young people and report on outcomes for them. They
will evaluate the contributions made by a wide range of services
and the way these services work together to improve outcomes.
For further information on Raising the Achievement of Children
in Public Care, please visit the
OfSTED
website. (this link opens in a new
window) |