Changes to our local authority inspection process
These changes have been reflected in our updated code of practice for local authority inspection.
As part of our work to continuously modernise and improve our processes, we will be strengthening our approach where a local authority social services department requires significant improvement.
In future, if we determine that a social services department is a ‘service requiring significant improvement’, we will notify the local authority and publish a letter about this.
This builds on our existing work to closely monitor and work with local authorities where significant improvements are required.
We're also moving away from the fixed five-year performance evaluation inspection cycle. Instead, we'll continue to monitor and inspect using a wider range of tools for performance review. This gives us greater flexibility as we continue to work in partnership with others.
We're adjusting our inspection programme to emphasise national thematic reviews, promoting shared learning across the sector. This may include future topics such as regional adoption services, commissioning practice and safeguarding. As such we'll be working more closely with partners and other inspectorates on this work.
Our code of practice for local authority inspection has been revised to reflect these changes.