Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take to enforce the duties for assessment of children in need that local authorities must meet, as outlined in the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance.

Ofsted produces guidance, ‘inspecting local authority children’s services’ (last updated April 2022), which sets out a framework for inspecting local authority children’s services to assist inspectors to be consistent in their inspections while having regard to local circumstances. Among other things, the inspections cover the effectiveness of local authority children’s services to help and protect children including those at risk of harm, with the focus on the experiences of children and young people; the effectiveness of leaders and managers; and the quality of professional practice.

The guidance is clear on what steps will be taken if services are found to be inadequate, including the intervention powers of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.

The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inspecting-local-authority-childrens-services-from-2018/inspecting-local-authority-childrens-services.