Ofsted has launched a consultation on proposals to include a new judgement on the experiences and progress of care leavers in the local authority children’s services (ILACS) inspection framework.

The inspectorate proposes to:

•             Introduce a separate new judgement within ILACS: “The experience and progress of care leavers.”

•             Review and update the existing evaluation criteria to ensure they are relevant and reflect what good looks like for care leavers.

•             Introduce the new judgement once all local authorities have had at least one ILACS inspection outcome.

Ofsted wants to be able to provide a clearer statement about the experiences of care leavers when inspectors evaluate the effectiveness of local authority children’s services, and to focus on the things that make the most difference to their lives.

Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s National Director for Social Care, said: “Our ILACS inspections have done much to shine a light on the experiences of care leavers and the work by local authorities to support them. But we think we can do more. Introducing a separate judgement reflects the priority we think should be given to providing high quality support to care leavers.

“We encourage everyone to contribute their views through our consultation, to help us give care leavers a clearer profile within these inspections,” she added.

The consultation runs until 29 July 2022. Responses will inform Ofsted’s updated arrangements, which are planned to be introduced from January 2023.