The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has welcomed Ofsted’s announcement that it will introduce no notice inspections for child protection services, coming into effect in May.
Commenting as Ofsted publishes its new framework, Nushra Mansuri, BASW professional officer, said:
“We wholeheartedly support unannounced inspections; there is less opportunity to mask poor practice and more reflection of reality.
“We have anecdotal evidence from members of how poorly performing local authorities can still get through inspection processes through unscrupulous means such as altering information. We also hear from members that the current Ofsted process is not effective or trusted by social workers.
“We want to see a new inspection framework that enables the sharing of good practice across the country. Inspectors should consistently have personal experience of social work practice and ideally be qualified social workers.
“It is critical that the voices of frontline practitioners are heard, and that workplaces have an effective whistle blowing service so that social workers can raise concerns without being identified and punished, as enshrined in our Code of Ethics.
Children and young people should be involved in partnership with inspectors, so that their voices can be heard and we can learn to develop services according to their experiences.”
Ofsted claims that the new framework ‘puts the child’s experience at the heart of inspection’, with inspections, carried out over a two-week period, involving a team of inspectors talking directly to children and their families, as well as to frontline social workers and managers.
The new framework follows a public consultation exercise held between July and September last year, which BASW contributed to.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. BASW’s response to the public consultation
2. The ‘Framework for the inspection of local authority arrangements for the protection of children’ , ‘Evaluation schedule and grade descriptors’, and ‘Responses to Ofsted’s consultation on the inspection of local authority children’s services’ are available on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk