• Find a children and families services inspection report
• Understanding a children and families services inspection report
• Types of children and families services Ofsted inspects
• Inspecting children and families services
  • Inspecting children's social care
  • Inspecting Cafcass
  • Inspecting children's centres
  • Inspecting and assessing local authority children's services
• Types of children and families services Ofsted regulates
• Regulating children and families services
• Statistics for children and families services
• About our survey reports
• How to complain

Inspecting and assessing local authority children's services

We have two types of inspection for a local authority.

• Inspections of safeguarding and looked after children services: These inspections look at how well the local authority keeps children safe and cares for the children that it looks after, such as those that live with foster parents.These inspections will end in July 2012.
• Inspections of local authority arrangements for the protection of children: These unannounced inspections look at how effective the child protection service is; and how well the local authority leads its partners in helping and protecting children and young people. These inspections began in May 2012

Our previous unannounced inspections of child protection were shorter inspections that looked at how well a local authority helped children that need or may need protection, focusing on their contact, referral and assessment arrangements. These inspections ended in January 2012. For information on how we carried out these inspections go to Unannounced inspections of contact, referral and assessment.

Inspections of safeguarding and looked after children services

Before an inspection

We usually carry out these inspections at the same time. We inspect with the Care Quality Commission, which looks at the contribution of health agencies to safeguarding and looked after children’s services.

We usually give a local authority a maximum of 10 working days notice of an inspection. We have surveys to get the views of children and young people that are looked after or who have recently left care. We have annual surveys for social workers and other interested parties; these are used as part of each inspection.

The inspectors select random cases to look at more closely.

During an inspection

The inspection lasts up to 10 days. The inspectors look at documents, further case files and other evidence. The inspectors speak to users; managers; health professionals and agencies; health agencies; other staff; and other interested parties. The inspectors give feedback to the local authority and its partners. The local authority gets feedback from the children’s surveys results.

After an inspection

The lead inspector writes the report. We publish the report on our website within 25 days of the end of the inspection.

Inspections of local authority arrangements for the protection of children

Before an inspection

This inspection is unannounced.

During an inspection

We ask the local authority to give the lead inspector information about:

• all children in receipt of services as a child in need
• children subject to a child protection plan
• all children and young people who have been the subject of a contact and/or referral over the previous three months.

We use this information to identify a sample of children so that we can identify the effectiveness of the help and protection of children in the local authority area.

The inspection takes eight days.

The inspectors carry out activities like: shadowing social work staff; looking at case files; and talking to children, young people, parents and carers. The inspectors will tell the relevant senior manager if they find any unresolved issues of significant risk of harm to a child or young person.

After an inspection

The lead inspector writes the report, which includes grades. We publish the report on our website within 22 days of the end of the inspection, together with a version for children and young people.

Annual children’s services assessment

We also carry out annual assessments.

Before the assessment

Our annual assessment recognises the key role that a local authority has in ensuring that good or better quality services and settings improve outcomes for children and young people.

Our annual assessment uses the information in the local authority’s performance profile. In the performance profile we present information about the quality of a local authority’s services and outcomes for children and young people, including services for safeguarding.

During the assessment

Our inspectors use the local authority’s performance profile to write the annual children’s services assessment and make judgements about the quality of the local authority’s children’s services.

After the assessment

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills will approve the final children’s services assessment for all local authorities. We publish the annual assessment letter and a summary of the latest performance profile in November on our website.