Ofsted 'feeding people's fears' say councils
Council leaders declare education watchdog is 'feeding people's fear's' ahead of their annual report
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Tuesday, 24, Nov 2009 10:20
By Sarah Garrod.
The education watchdog Ofsted has been accused by local government leaders of "feeding people's fears" rather than improving child protection.
The criticisms from the Local Government Association (LGA) said Ofsted should be a calm, measured voice that helps to make child protection services work better.
The LGA is now calling for the watchdog to sign up to its own improvement plan to "win back the confidence of the public, central government and councils".
The association added that it believed Ofsted, which is due to deliver its annual report, has become too concerned about protecting its own reputation and places a disproportionate emphasis on publicly highlighting weaknesses in child protection without adequately reflecting the huge amount of good work being done by councils across the country.
They said the practice encourages professionals in the police and health services to be excessively risk-averse over the handling of vulnerable children, driving up the number of referrals social workers are dealing with, exemplified by the number of care applications for the three months to September 2009, which rose more than 47 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Councillor Shireen Ritchie, chair of the LGA's children and young people board, said: "There is no question of complacency when it comes to the issue of keeping children safe from abuse and neglect. Councils want to do this as well as they possibly can, and getting feedback and reports on their successes and failures is a vital part of getting better.
"Ofsted, like any inspection body, needs to have the trust and respect of the people it works with. A good watchdog has to be seen to be independent, and to offer conclusions based on facts and research rather than being influenced by external events."
Ahead of the publication of Ofsted's annual report later today, the LGA is calling on the organisation to:
- be a voice of reason rather than feeding people's fears
- be independent of external influence, basing its conclusions on facts and research
- use expert and knowledgeable inspectors who can offer advice and support
- assess how well children are being looked after and protected rather than measuring processes and procedures
- be focused on making services better rather than on delivering detached, public judgements.
The Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) today released a document which outlines initial proposals for a radically different inspection regime to that currently practiced by Ofsted.
It says that "the time is ripe" to explore a new model that addresses these flaws.
Kim Bromley-Derry, president of the ADCS, said: "We want to be inspected, to be judged on what we do well and what we don't - but we need a system that admits its limitations, acknowledges the expertise of those working in the sector and clearly articulates both the challenges and the improvements in a language that the public can understand.
"By no means do we claim to have all the answers, but there are a number of parties interested in how we can better inspect public services and we hope to work with them to develop a coherent and acceptable alternative to the current model."
In response, Ofsted said, "We would be failing in our duty if we did not highlight what works and where improvements are needed. We make no apology for this".