Minister reveals plans to scrap Ofsted annual rating of children's services

The government has confirmed it is to end the annual rating process under which Ofsted reviews local authorities’ delivery of children’s services.

The move was confirmed by Children’s Minister Tim Loughton in a letter to Ofsted, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, the Local Government Association, and Solace.

Loughton said the decision would be implemented “as soon as a suitable legislative opportunity can be identified”. The duty on Ofsted to review the overall performance of each council in England in relation to children’s services is contained in the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

The Department for Education acknowledged concerns that the annual rating process in its current form “adds little understanding of children’s services in an area over and above the individual inspections that underlie it, and are not particularly helpful in aiding improvement”.

It added: “The decision is also in line with wider changes to local authority accountability arrangements across Government and the termination of the Comprehensive Area Assessment.”

The DfE will now work with Ofsted “to ensure the rating process is as simple and transparent as possible and does not create unnecessary burdens for local areas”.

The Department is already working with the watchdog on potential changes to the wider children’s services inspection framework.

This work will be informed by Professor Eileen Munro’s review of child protection and Dame Clare Tickell’s review of early years. The government said it hoped to be able to announce decisions on changes during the first half of 2011.

The most recent annual ratings – released yesterday – saw the number of councils awarded an “excellent” double in 2010. However, the number of poor performing authorities has also risen, to 12.