Ofsted launches consultation on the future of inspection of Cafcass

Ofsted has launched a consultation over proposed changes to the inspection of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass).

Aimed at aligning the approach to the inspection of Cafcass with other social care frameworks the new proposals are intended to ‘provide a more effective inspection regime while providing the opportunity to reduce the burden of inspection in response to continued good performance’.

The consultation sets out Ofsted’s proposals for the overall approach to the inspection of Cafcass with feedback is invited to help refine and improve the proposal.

Yvette Stanley, National Director, Regulation and Social Care said ‘We will consider all responses carefully before finalising and publishing the revised framework in February 2021. We expect to start the new inspections of Cafcass in 2021.’

Future inspections will be designed to:

Focus on the things that matter most in children’s lives
Be consistent in Ofsted's expectations of providers
Prioritise Ofsted's work where improvement is needed most

With the proposals including:

A 3-yearly national judgment inspection
Focused visits between judgment inspections, or inclusion in joint targeted area inspections
Annual sharing of a self-evaluation of frontline practice in both public and private law
An annual engagement meeting between Ofsted and the Cafcass chief executive and senior leadership team