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Guidance

Inspecting local authority children's services

Ofsted's framework and guidance for inspecting local authority services for children (ILACS) in need of help and protection, children in care and care leavers.

Updates to this page

From:
Ofsted
Published:
29 November 2017
Last updated:
20 March 2026
Show all updates

  1. See 'Summary of changes'.

  2. See 'Summary of changes'.

  3. See 'Summary of changes'.

  4. See 'Summary of changes'.

  5. See 'Summary of changes'.

  6. See 'Summary of changes'.

  7. See 'Summary of framework changes' for details.

  8. See 'Summary of changes'.

  9. See summary of changes.

  10. See summary of changes.

  11. See 'Summary of changes'.

  12. See 'Summary of framework changes' for details.

  13. See 'Summary of framework changes' for details.

  14. See 'Summary of framework changes' for details.

  15. See 'Summary of framework changes' for details.

  16. Updated details of notification periods for inspections and visits and guidance on arrangements for publishing inspection reports and letters; concerns and complaints about an inspection; and on how our inspections/visits consider the local authority's arrangements with regional adoption agencies. See 'Summary of framework changes' for more information.

  17. Changes made to the guidance on ILACS focused visits during the restart of routine inspection (see summary of changes for more information).

  18. Removed information about our work during the national lockdown (5 November up to 2 December).

  19. Ofsted is pausing ILACS visits during the national lockdown starting on 5 November.

  20. In the section on ILACS focused visits during the restart of routine inspection, we added information about identifying areas for priority action and two items to the information request.

  21. Updated the framework, setting out arrangements for focused visits in light of the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19). Also converted documents to a more accessible format.

  22. We have updated Annex A: Child-level data: additional guidance and template, a summary of all changes can be found at the end of the document.

  23. Updated framework document - a summary of the changes made is included at the end of the framework.

  24. A summary of the changes made is on the penultimate page of the framework.

  25. Updated the 'How to use the local authority inspection sharing site' document to include details of how to receive and use verification codes.

  26. Updated the framework - there is a summary of changes at the end of the document.

  27. Published 'Talking to...' inspection privacy notices for children and young people and parents/carers.

  28. Added guidance on sharing files with Ofsted during inspections of local authority children's services.

  29. Annex B updated and new annex added (Annex C) about inspections where a local authority is part of a regional adoption agency.

  30. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Inspecting local authority children’s services

HTML

Summary of framework changes

HTML

How to use the local authority inspection sharing site

PDF, 364 KB, 5 pages

Child-level data: additional guidance and template for Annex A

ODS, 53.4 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

Talking to an Ofsted inspector: children

HTML

Talking to an inspector: parents and carers

HTML

Links to legislation, regulations and statutory guidance

HTML

Details

Ofsted uses this framework and guidance for most inspections of local authority children’s services (ILACS).

This page includes:

  • Ofsted’s framework for the inspection of local authority children’s services
  • guidance for local authorities on sharing information with us on an inspection
  • guidance for local authorities on providing child level data for the inspection
  • ‘Talking to…’ information for children and young people and their parents/carers that explains why inspectors want to speak with them and what we do with the things they tell us

For information about how Ofsted inspects the social care providers that we regulate see the Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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