I have just been reading in Children and Young People Now about Ofsted’s report on child
protection services in Buckinghamshire, which is described as ‘damning’. The
authority was found to be inadequate with the lowest possible rating across the
board for looked-after children, child protection and care leaver services.
In July Ofsted also found Knowsley inadequate.
The same round of ‘single assessment framework’ inspections
has also found Birmingham and Coventry and Slough to be ‘inadequate’.
Looking at the report on Buckinghamshire the word
‘under-resourced’ comes to mind.
It mentions high caseloads and lots of unallocated
cases, resulting in poor record keeping and poor services.
I can’t help wondering what the effects of Ofsted’s ever-growing
list of failures are. The problems authorities are experiencing are not
particularly unusual; if you don’t resource services properly you are unlikely
to get high quality! Yet the cumulative effect of all this disruptive and
expensive inspection doesn’t seem to be an open acknowledgement that better
resourcing is required. Rather inspectors march on to point the finger of blame
at the next ‘inadequate’ council, apparently without anybody drawing the simple overall
conclusions.
