Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to consult family members and children in the London Borough of Lambeth about their experience of children’s services in the Borough.

As part of Ofsted’s inspection of children’s social care services in Lambeth (reported on 12 May 2015), Ofsted met with children, young people, parents, carers, care leavers and Lambeth’s Children in Care Council, who provided direct evidence about their experiences of Lambeth’s children’s services.

Ofsted inspectors also talk to young people as part of bi-annual visits to children’s homes; and take children’s and parents’ views as part of an annual survey of all children’s homes and fostering agencies. These surveys inform Ofsted’s lines of enquiry for subsequent inspections and decisions about the timing of inspections.

The independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by the Hon. Dame Lowell Goddard DNZM, is taking evidence from those affected by child sexual abuse in Lambeth.