Why does this matter?
If you work anywhere near children’s social care, you’ve probably seen the headlines. Ofsted has launched a consultation on how it inspects local authority children’s services and social care providers, and it runs until 28 September. That’s less than two weeks away, so if you’ve been meaning to have your say, now is the time.
We wanted to write about it because the proposals go right to the heart of what we do at Mind Of My Own.
What’s actually changing
Ofsted is looking to reform two of its key frameworks: the Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) and the Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF), which covers providers like children’s homes and fostering agencies.
The headline proposals include:
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A move to a five point grading scale and “report cards” instead of single word judgements
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Removing the “overall experiences and progress” judgement for SCCIF providers
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A stronger focus on how services support family networks and help children build lasting relationships with people who matter to them
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Proposals to treat placements in unregistered children’s homes as a serious limiting factor in how a local authority is judged
Sir Martyn Oliver, HM Chief Inspector, has been clear about the intent behind all of this. Every child deserves to grow up in a loving home, and inspection needs to reflect whether that is genuinely happening, not just whether the paperwork says it is.
Why we’re paying attention
Strip away the technical language and one thread runs through the whole consultation. Ofsted wants inspection to focus on what actually matters to children, young people and families, rather than on ticking boxes that look good on a spreadsheet.
That’s not a new idea to us. It’s the reason MoMo exists.
Our tools are built to capture what a child or young person actually thinks and feels about their care, their placement, their contact arrangements and their future, in their own words and on their own terms. When a young person uses MoMo to say what’s working and what isn’t, that isn’t a nice extra. It’s information that should sit right alongside the data a service reports to its regulator.
If inspection is genuinely shifting towards the lived experience of children, then services need a reliable, ongoing way of gathering that experience, not just at the point of an inspection but as part of everyday practice. That’s the gap we’re trying to close.
What this could mean for services
A five point scale and report cards will change how performance gets communicated, but they won’t change what inspectors are actually trying to find out. They still want to know whether children feel safe, whether they’re listened to, and whether decisions are made with them rather than just about them.
Services that already have a consistent, embedded way of capturing children’s voices will be in a stronger position to evidence that, whatever the new framework ends up looking like. Those relying on occasional surveys or annual reviews may find it harder to show ongoing, authentic engagement.
It’s also worth noting the proposed focus on unregistered children’s homes. Where a child’s placement isn’t inspected or regulated, there’s no formal route for their voice to be heard through the usual channels either. That makes independent, direct routes to capturing what children think even more important, not less.
Have your say
The consultation is open until 28 September 2026 and Ofsted has said it wants to hear from children, young people, parents, carers, local authorities, providers and sector experts. If your service has views on how inspection should work, this is a genuine chance to shape it before the framework is finalised.
We’ll be keeping an eye on where this lands. In the meantime, if you want to talk about how Mind Of My Own can help you build children’s voices into everyday practice, not just inspection preparation, we’d love to hear from you.