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Press release: First joint area reviews of children's services in five local authorities published today

The first joint area reviews, carried out by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and nine other inspectorates and commissions as part of a new integrated system for the inspection of local authority children’s services, are published today.

Joint area review reports for five local authorities, which were amongst the first to receive reviews when the new system came into force in September, have been published on the Ofsted website today. They are: Enfield, Bournemouth, Herefordshire, Wirral and Slough.

The reviews judge the outcomes for children and young people aged 0-19 growing up in each area and evaluate how local children’s services work together to contribute to their achievements, progress and well-being. The services reviewed include council services, health services, police and probation services, and publicly funded services provided by voluntary bodies.

Speaking on behalf of all the inspectorates and commissions, Ofsted’s Director of Education, Miriam Rosen, said:

“The first reviews, carried out by multi-disciplinary teams of inspectors, marked the start of a new and improved integrated system of inspection for children’s services. The five reports published today provide a comprehensive picture of the outcomes for children and young people in their local areas.

“These new reviews will ensure that the inspectorates and commissions work together in a consistent way to support councils in their efforts to help improve the lives of our children and young people. They incorporate the inspection of youth services and replace separate inspections of local education authorities, local authorities’ social services, Connexions services and the provision for students aged 14-19.”

Reviews focus on the extent to which children and young people are healthy, safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being. They pay particular attention to vulnerable children and include recommendations for authorities.

BournemouthChildren’s Services Authority Area

Outcomes for most children and young people are good. Local services are judged to be making a good contribution in securing the health of children and young people, keeping them safe, helping them contribute to society and to achieve economic well-being. Services make a good contribution to helping children and young people enjoy their education and recreation and to achieve well. Management of children’s services is good.

EnfieldChildren’s Services Authority Area

Outcomes for children and young people are positive. Local services are judged to be making a good contribution in securing the health of children and young people, keeping them safe, helping them contribute to society. The contribution of services in helping children and young people achieve economic well-being is adequate. Services make an adequate contribution to helping children and young people enjoy their education and recreation and to achieve well. Management of children’s services is good.

Herefordshire Children’s Services Authority Area

Outcomes for most young people are good overall. Local services are judged to be good in securing the health of children and young people, helping them enjoy their education and recreation and to achieve well and helping them to contribute to society. The contribution to helping children and young people achieve economic well being is adequate but is inadequate in keeping them safe. The management of children’s services is adequate.

Slough Children’s Services Authority Area

Outcomes for most children and young people in Slough are good. Local services are judged to be making a good contribution in securing the health of children and young people, keeping them safe, helping them contribute to society and to achieve economic well-being. Services make a good contribution to helping children and young people enjoy their education and recreation and to achieve well. Management of children’s services is good.

Wirral Children’s Services Authority Area

Outcomes for most children and young people are positive. Local services are judged to be making a good contribution in helping children and young people in securing the health of children and young people, helping them to enjoy their education and recreation and to achieve well and to contribute to society. Services make an adequate contribution to keeping children and young people safe and at helping them to achieve economic well-being. The management of children’s services is adequate.

The five local authorities received an enhanced inspection of their youth service provision and separate youth service reports are published alongside the review reports today.

If an annual performance assessment is due to take place at the same time as a joint area review, the review acts as the assessment to avoid duplication and reduce the burden on councils. The APA grades for these five councils are listed in their reports today.

The JAR process is normally carried out at the same time as the Audit Commission’s corporate assessment of councils, and corporate assessments for this first group of reports have been published by the Audit Commission today. Some of the JAR findings will feed directly into the achievement section within the overall Audit Commission corporate assessment, which in turn feeds into the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) of all single tier and county councils drawn together by the Audit Commission.

Notes For Editors

1. All five reports are available on the Ofsted website www.ofsted.gov.uk today.

2. Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department established under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 to take responsibility for the inspection of all schools in England. Its role also includes the inspection of further education, local authority children’s services, teacher training institutions and some independent schools. During 2001, Ofsted became responsible for inspecting all 16-19 education and for the regulation of early years childcare, including childminders.

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