Councils brace themselves for on-the-spot annual safeguarding inspections

The new form of joint inspections that come into force this April will include unannounced, annual inspections of the way councils safeguard children despite opposition from the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS).

The revised version of the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) framework was due to be confirmed as CYP Now was going to press, with a tougher stance on safeguarding to be brought into the process in the aftermath of the Baby P tragedy in Haringey.

These inspections are set to focus on the referrals of looked-after children and the way their cases are assessed.

In addition, three-yearly reviews of all safeguarding arrangements will take place, but could be brought forward if the annual inspections flag up any problems.

Mike Cladingbowl, project director of Comprehensive Area Assessments at Ofsted, said that the Baby P case had shown the importance of regular inspections of safeguarding.

He said: "This is important to provide everyone in the sector with confidence in what we do."

But responding to the original consultation last year, the ADCS said there was a need to reduce the inspection burden on local authorities (CYP Now, 30 October-4 November 2008).

The Local Government Association is also concerned about the bureaucratic burden and that inspectors will rely too much on performance data that has already been published.

Caroline Abrahams, the LGA's children and young people programme director, said: "It is right that safeguarding is taken seriously but there is a concern that this process will rely too much on statistics and not on the views of service users themselves."

The new system will be rolled out nationwide from April, when the first CAAs get under way. These assessments involve seven inspectorates and focus on the way public sector organisations work together.

CYP Now