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Press release: Single inspectorate for children and learners arrives

A new single inspectorate for children and learners will be created on April 1, with a mission to raise standards and improve lives.

The new Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills will be known as Ofsted. It retains one of the best known and trusted names in the public sector. Its vision is to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages, through inspection and regulation.

The new Ofsted brings together the wide experience of four inspectorates, including the Adult Learning Inspectorate, work from the Commission for Social Care Inspection and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Court Administration, and the current work of Ofsted.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills, Christine Gilbert, said:

"The reach of the new inspectorate is extensive. At least one person in three makes use of the services we shall inspect or regulate. This puts us in a position to make a difference to the lives of many millions of our fellow-citizens, of all ages. This is a privilege, and a great responsibility."

The new Ofsted will be responsible for the registration and inspection of childcare; the registration and inspection of arrangements for the social care and support of children and young people; and the inspection of all maintained and some independent schools.

It will also be responsible for the inspection of further education; the inspection of all publicly-funded adult education and training and some privately-funded training provision; and the inspection of teacher training.

The inspection of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) will be undertaken by the new Ofsted. Joint Area Reviews and Annual Performance Assessments of local children's services provision will continue to be led by Ofsted.

The post of the Children's Rights Director (CRD) will transfer from the Commission for Social Care Inspection to Ofsted.

The breadth of this remit will allow the new Ofsted to take a comprehensive view across care, education and skills and speak with great authority about the quality of services for children, young people and adult learners.

The new Ofsted will ensure that provision is inspected in totality so there is less chance of issues slipping through the boundaries between inspectorates. Complexity and overlap will be reduced, ensuring that inspection does not take front line staff away from their core focus of providing and improving services.

The Education and Inspections Act that establishes the new Ofsted requires the inspectorate to promote improvement in the public services we inspect and regulate; ensure that these services focus on the interests of children, parents, learners and employers; and that these services are efficient and effective.

The Act also establishes a board to provide strategic oversight of the new Ofsted. The board has a duty to have regard to the views of service users as well as a statutory purpose to encourage improvement.

Zenna Atkins, Chairman of the Ofsted Board, said:

"I am delighted to be chairing this new and vital inspectorate. Bringing the inspection of the majority of children's services together with the majority of learning environments will ensure continuity and consistency and be a decisive tool for driving improvement and raising standards. The Board's mission is to place the views of children, learners, parents and carers at the heart of everything we do in the new Ofsted."

Welcoming the creation of the new Ofsted, Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education and Skills, said:

"Inspection and regulation need constantly to be renewed, to match society's changing expectations. The government has established a single inspectorate for children and learners in recognition of the fact that services must be coherent to the user, not just convenient for the provider. The new Ofsted will become one of the most powerful forces for improvement in the fields of education, children's services and skills."

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills Strategic Plan 2007-2010 is being published on the Ofsted website on April 1. It outlines the new organisation's vision, purpose and values and invites comment on the challenging priorities proposed for the new inspectorate.

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Notes For Editors

1. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills Strategic Plan 2007-2010 is available from the Ofsted press team on 020 7421 6574 and will be published on the Ofsted website on April 1 at www.ofsted.gov.uk2. From 1 April 2007 a new single inspectorate for children and learners comes into being. It will have responsibility for the inspection of adult learning and training - work formerly undertaken by the Adult Learning Inspectorate; the regulation and inspection of children's social care - work formerly undertaken by the Commission for Social Care Inspection; the inspection of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service - work formerly undertaken by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Court Administration; and the existing regulatory and inspection activities of Ofsted.3. The Ofsted press office can be contacted on 08456 404040 between 8am-6pm Monday-Friday. During evenings and weekends we can be reached on 07919 057359.

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