Business Plan 2011-2015 Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills November 2010 This plan will b

1. Business Plan 2011-2015 Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills November 2010 This plan will be refreshed annually Contents: Section A: Vision Section B: Priorities Section C: Structural Reform Plan Section D: Departmental Expenditure Section E: Transparency

2. A) Vision Ofsted inspects and regulates to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages, thereby raising standards and improving lives, while providing value for money. Improving lives – putting power in the hands of people and communities Inspection gives people using public services a stronger voice and helps them make informed choices. Inspectors will spend more time directly observing what services are like for children and learners, listening to their experiences and those of parents and employers. Ofsted will regulate in a proportionate way to ensure children are safe and well looked after. We will report on what we find in a way that is clear, helpful and transparent. We will help people and communities hold their services to account, and ensure those providing services are clear about where improvements are necessary. Raising standards – ensuring fairness and supporting Britain’s long-term success Ofsted will spend proportionately more time inspecting the weakest services, which are too often those used by the poorest and most vulnerable. We will not routinely inspect the very best services unless there are concerns about their performance or those using the services are at particular risk. Ofsted will focus on the issues that have the most impact on raising standards for children and learners. Providing value for money – achieving more for less Ofsted will further reduce the overall amount spent on the inspection and regulation of education, children’s services and skills. We will target resources where they make the most difference, driving improvement and value for money in public services. We will focus expenditure on front-line inspection and regulation and make effective use of the private and third sector organisations who provide inspection services on our behalf.

3. B) Priorities • Structural Reform Priorities • Better inspection and regulation • Improving the way we work in order to provide sharper, more intelligent accountability that focuses on underperformance and drives fairness for communities and those using services • Better public involvement • Ensuring people’s views and experiences inform how and when we inspect and regulate, and empowering people with the information they need to hold services to account • Better ways of working • Using our resources responsibly in an effective, efficient and sustainable way that focuses on the front-line. • Business as usual priorities • 1. Carrying out inspection and regulatory activity • in line with legal powers and duties and in accordance with agreements with other government departments • 2. Reporting on the quality of education, children’s services and skills • through an Annual Report, in-depth studies and the regular publication of data • 3. Providing efficient and effective corporate support services • to enable the delivery of our front-line inspection and regulatory work.

4. B) Priorities Ofsted will no longer… …routinely inspect the very best providers of some types of services unless there are concerns about ongoing performance or particular risks to children or learners. …undertake regular inspection cycles for some activity, shifting instead to a more risk-based or sampling approach. … carry out evaluations of some services where the public are able to hold them to account through other means.

5. C) Structural Reform Plan Each month, Ofsted will publish a simple report on its progress in meeting the commitments set out in this Structural Reform Plan. This plan sets out the changes Ofsted will make to its work to deliver its priorities. These reports will be available on Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk We have ensured our plan is aligned with that of the Department for Education wherever necessary. All legislative timings and subsequent actions are subject to Parliamentary timetable and approval.

6. Actions 1.1Implement reforms to the inspection and regulation of childcare and early years Reduce inspection and regulation and any other demands on childcare and early years providers as far as possible within current legal requirements and in line with government policy Introduce new inspection and regulatory frameworks for childcare and early years providers in line with new legislative requirements 1.2 Implement reforms to the inspection of schools Reduce inspection and any other demands on schools as far as possible within current legal requirements and in line with government policy Develop streamlined school inspection framework and guidance Publish new inspection framework for schools and put new system in place Revise inspection arrangements for the inspection of non-association independent schools in line with legislative requirements Introduce new inspection arrangements for the stand-alone inspection of boarding in non-association independent and maintained schools and residential special schools 1. Better inspection and regulation (1/2) Providing sharper, more intelligent accountability that focuses on underperformance and drives fairness for communities and those using services Start End Oct 2010 Sept 2012 Sept 2012 Sept 2012 Oct 2010 Dec 2011 Nov 2010 Jun 2011 Jul 2011 Dec 2011 Oct 2010 Jan 2012 Oct 2010 Sept 2011 • MILESTONES • A. New Early Years Framework in place • B. Legislation introduced to reform school inspection Sept 2012 Jan 2011

7. Actions 1.3 Implement reforms to the inspection and regulation of children’s social care Reduce inspection and regulation and any other demands on children’s social care as far as possible within current legal requirements and in line with government policy Introduce inspection and regulatory frameworks for children’s social care providers in line with new legislative requirements 1.4 Implement reforms to the inspection and assessment of children’s services in local authorities Develop proposals for streamlined and proportionate inspection of local authority children’s services Introduce new local authority children’s services inspections 1.5 Implement reforms to the inspection of learning and skills Reduce the inspection of outstanding sixth form and FE colleges pending new legislation Further streamline and simplify the Common Inspection Framework so as to focus on areas of greatest impact in inspections of further education, work-based learning and adult and community learning Introduce revised ITE inspection framework, incorporating a more proportionate approach 1. Better inspection and regulation (2/2) Providing sharper, more intelligent accountability that focuses on underperformance and drives fairness for communities and those using services Start End Nov 2010April 2011 April 2011 April 2013 Oct 2010 Dec 2011 May 2012 May 2012 Oct 2010 April 2011 April 2012 Sept 2012 Sept 2011 Sept 2012 • MILESTONES • A. Streamlined regulations, guidance and national minimum standards for fostering services, children’s homes and adoption services published • B. Professor Munro’s review of the child protection system published April 2011 May 2011

8. Actions 2.1Further enable those using services to feedback on their quality between inspections Increase the variety of ways in which users can feedback their views between inspections Introduce mechanisms to target key user groups such as children and young people, parents and carers and adult learners to understand local and national perspectives Develop new ways to gather parents’ views to influence inspection selection 2.2 Increase the involvement of those using services during inspections Increase and widen the consultation on new inspection frameworks Increase the use of interactive engagement methods to capture user views particularly targeting those potentially hardest to reach 2.3 Make information about the quality of services more available, accessible and transparent i. Make more information available about inspection outcomes through new regular statistical releases ii. Make reports and other information available in ways which enable greater public interrogation and analysis 2. Better public involvement Ensuring people’s views and experiences inform how and when we inspect and regulate, and by empowering people with the information they need to hold services to account Start End Oct 2010 Sept 2012 Oct 2010 Sept 2012 Oct 2010 Sept 2012 Oct 2010 Sept 2012 Oct 2010 Sept 2012 April 2011 April 2012 April 2011 April 2012 • MILESTONES New inspection arrangements for • schools • social care • children’s services • childcare • learning and skills Dec 2011 From April 2011 May 2012 Sept 2012 Sept 2012

9. Actions 3.1 Streamline corporate support functions, reducing costs in the process. Review communications work, reducing costs in line with agreed targets Review Ofsted's transactional Human Resources and learning and development functions in line with the centrally provided next generation HR service Review transactional Finance and Procurement functions and implement as shared service Extend or let new ICT services contract  to achieve agreed reductions in ICT spend 3.2 Reduce the indirect cost of inspection and regulation to those we inspect and regulate  Review and reduce where possible requests for data and other information as part of new inspection framework developments Review and reduce where possible notice given to services before inspection events to reduce time spent by providers in preparation 3. Better ways of working Using resources responsibly in an effective, efficient and sustainable way that focuses on the front-line. Start End Oct 2010 April 2012 Oct 2010 April 2012 Oct 2010 April 2013 Oct 2010 Dec 2011 April 2011 April 2013 April 2011 April 2013 MILESTONES A. Spending review requirements established Oct 2010

10. D) Departmental Expenditure • This section sets out how the Department is spending taxpayers’ money as clearly and transparently as possible. • We have included a table to show the Department’s planned expenditure over the Spending Review period, as agreed with the Treasury. It is split into money spent on administration (including the cost of running departments themselves), programmes (including the frontline), and capital (for instance new buildings and equipment). • By April 2011, each department will also publish a bubble chart setting out in detail how its settlement will be allocated for the 2011/12 financial year, across its key programmes and activities.

11. Table of spending for 2011/12 to 2014/15 This section sets out the department’s planned expenditure over the Spending Period, as agreed with the Treasury. • Detailed breakdown of these budgets will be published by April 2011 4. Excludes depreciation • Excludes departmental Annually Managed Expenditure 5. To be confirmed at the end of each financial year • Numbers may not sum due to rounding

12. Common areas of spend The indicators below will help the public to judge whether the Department is being run efficiently, and can be compared across all departments.

13. E) Transparency Greater transparency across government is at the heart of the Coalition’s commitment to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account, to reduce the deficit and deliver better value for money in public spending. This section will set out the information that will enable users of public services to choose between providers, and taxpayers to assess the efficiency and productivity of public services, holding them more effectively to account. This section is published in draft until April 2011 to allow for further consultation.

14. Information strategy • Information strategy • Ofsted is committed to making the information it holds available in as accessible and transparent a way as possible. Richard Brooks, Director, Strategy, is the Ofsted Executive Board lead on Transparency. Richard can be contacted at richard.brooks@ofsted.gov.uk. The public can request information from Ofsted by contacting: informationrequest@ofsted.gov.uk. • In relation to Ofsted and its work, Ofsted will publish on its website: • quarterly input indicators relating to Ofsted’s cost and productivity • information on Ofsted’s expenditure and contracts in line with the Prime Minister's letter on Transparency of 31 May 2010 • an annual report on Ofsted’s performance and expenditure during the previous financial year • monthly progress updates against the activities included in the Structural Reform Plan • detailed information on how Ofsted works, including guidance produced for its inspectors. • In relation to those it inspects and regulates, Ofsted will publish on its website: • inspection reports within published timescales following inspections • an annual report on the quality of education, children’s services and skills in England • in-depth studies of subjects and aspects of education, children’s services and skills provision • regular information on inspection outcomes (by type of provider and on a local and national basis) • regular information on the number of registered providers • regular information on regulatory action carried out by Ofsted • outcome indicators for children and learners agreed with the appropriate Ministerial Departments.

15. Input Indicators The indicators set out in this section are a subset of the data gathered by the Department which will be made transparently available as outlined in the Information Strategy. The Department will adopt the following input indicators:

16. Impact Indicators (p.1 of 2) Ofsted will adopt the following impact indicators: Ofsted will also contribute to the following which are set out in the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Business Plans, and subject to consultation.

17. Impact Indicators (p.2 of 2) The department will also contribute to the following impact indicators set out in the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Business Plans.

18. Other data • We will publish datasets and our departmental organogram on our website. The organogram is available here: organogram and senior staff salaries • We have highlighted information that will be particularly useful to help people to judge the progress of structural reforms, and help people to make informed choices, under three headings: • Data that will help people to judge the progress of structural reforms: • New inspection frameworks and associated guidance as they are introduced across our remit • 2. Data that will help people make informed choices: • Inspection reports of individual providers within published timescales following inspections and reporting on key themes • 3. Other key data: • An annual report on the quality of education, children’s services and skills in England