Memorandum submitted by the Children's
Rights Alliance for England (CRAE)
ABOUT CRAE
The Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE)
is a coalition of over 380 organisations committed to the full
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We
are the biggest children's rights coalition in the world. We work
in three areas:
— Monitoring government action on implementing
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights
instruments.
— Undertaking public policy advocacy
to increase the legal rights of children, consistent with human
rights standards.
— Disseminating children's rights information
to policy makers and Parliamentarians, and to the children's workforce
and members of the public.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
— CRAE is concerned that the protection
and promotion of children's human rights has not been fully embedded
in the work of the "new" Ofsted.
— The statutory requirements for Ofsted
to consult with children and young people through the inspection
and regulation process are unclear.
— We also believe that the revised
regulations for the Children's Rights Director significantly dilute
the Director's powers to safeguard the rights of children away
from home.
OFSTED AND
SAFEGUARDING RIGHTS
1. CRAE welcomes this opportunity to contribute
to the Committee's review of the work of Ofsted. The robust regulation
and inspection of services affecting children is a vital human
rights safeguard and it strengthens the accountability of service
providers to their users—in this case, children.
2. The first statutory function of Ofsted
is to have regard to "the need to safeguard and promote the
rights" of children (Education and Inspection Act 2006, s117(2)(a)).
Rights are not defined in the Act.
3. Reference is only made in Ofsted's Strategic
Plan[3]
to rights in relation to its values and in relation to the work
of the Children's Rights Director, which is restricted to children
living away from home. CRAE would expect full implementation of
Ofsted's function to extend beyond this, to the 1.5 million children
using "early years" services and 8.1 million children
and young people who are in schools.
OFSTED AND
LISTENING TO
CHILDREN
4. CRAE is concerned that the statutory
requirements for Ofsted to consult with children and young people
through the inspection and regulation process are unclear. Currently
two pieces of legislation cover Ofsted's duties to consult with
service users.
5. Section 7 of the Education Act 2005 includes
explicit provision for Ofsted to have regard to any views expressed
by registered pupils at a school being inspected.
6. Section 117 of the Education and Inspections
Act 2006 is based on the Government's 10 principles of public
sector inspection.[4]
Subsection 117(2)(b) places a duty on Ofsted to have regard to
the views expressed by relevant persons about activities within
the Chief Inspector's remit. Subsection 117(4)(b)(i) defines a
relevant person as "persons for whose benefit they are carried
on". Subsections 117(6) (a) and (b) define "activities"
and the "remit" of the Chief Inspector.
7. We understand that this section covers
the inspection process for settings other than schools (such as
children's homes, foster care and secure training centres), but
this is not explicitly laid out in the statute. Ofsted's functions
in relation to vulnerable children away from home—including
those in locked settings—are a crucial safeguard for these
children, and must be carried out having regard to the UK's human
rights obligations and with due attention to children's views
and feelings. Grave concerns have been raised recently about the
treatment of children in secure training centres, through the
Carlile Inquiry,[5]
the inquests of Adam Rickwood and Gareth Myatt[6]
and the serious case review of Adam Rickwood—including confusion
over statutory safeguarding responsibilities towards children
in custody.[7]
However, the inspection reports from secure training centres barely
touch on children's direct views and experiences and there is
little evidence that inspectors are aware of the state's human
rights obligations to children in custody. The approach taken
by Ofsted's predecessor—the Commission for Social Care Inspection—contrasts
unfavourably with the strong human rights framework of the Prisons
Inspectorate.
8. We warmly welcome Ofsted's strategic
plan, which prioritises consultation and notes that Ofsted "needs
to get better at gathering and responding to the views of children".
We believe this shows a strong commitment by Ofsted and the current
Chief Inspector to listening to the views, wishes and feelings
of children. However, the progressive direction of Ofsted risks
being stalled if there is a change of leadership, resource constraints
or some other pressure. Taking children's views seriously should
be embedded in the statutory functions of Ofsted. The UK Government
ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in April
1991: article 12 of the Convention gives every child the right
to express an opinion on any matter affecting them and for this
view to be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity.
9. Furthermore, we are concerned that moves
towards "light touch" inspection processes could undermine
obligations through Article 12. We seek assurances that this approach
will not affect the quality or depth of consultation with children.
10. We welcome the tellus2 survey
and its impact on making children's views heard and highlighting
their experiences. However, we note that as this survey is based
in schools (predominantly secondary schools), children out of
education, younger children and children in "special"
schools are excluded from the process. No clear explanation has
been given of other efforts being made to solicit their views.
11. Moreover, results from this year's survey
show that just 1% of respondents classify themselves as disabled
and 15% receive free school meals.[8]
This does not devalue the results but adds to concerns about how
representative they are of the experiences of vulnerable children.
ROLE OF
THE CHILDREN'S
RIGHTS DIRECTOR
12. New regulations issued in February 2007
on the role of the Children's Rights Director have significantly
weakened the functions of the post (see below), at least in law.
The current postholder may not be affected by the legal withering
of his role, but future postholders are likely to adopt a much
narrower remit.
13. The Children's Rights Director is an
essential safeguarding post for children living away from home.
CRAE has great respect for the work of Dr Roger Morgan and his
staff and wants to ensure that they have the necessary legal framework
to act effectively on behalf of children.
The National Care Standards Commission (Children's Rights Director) Regulations 2002
| The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Children's Rights Director) Regulations 2007
|
| Functions of the Children's Rights Director are:
| Functions of the Children's Rights Director are:
|
To secure, so far as possible, that the Commission in exercising its functions:
— safeguards and promotes the rights and welfare of children who are provided with regulated children's services;
— gives proper consideration to the views of children to whom regulated children's services are provided and to the views of the parents of such children.
| To advise and assist the Chief Inspector in relation to the Chief Inspector's duty when performing his functions ... to have regard to:
— the need to safeguard and promote the rights and welfare of children
— views expressed by relevant persons about activities within his remit... in particular by ascertaining the views of children (and, where appropriate, their parents) about those activities, and reporting such views to the Chief Inspector.
|
Other functions set out in the 2002 regulations:
— give advice on registration and inspection processes, staffing in regulated children's services and monitor enforcement action taken by the Commission;
| To inform the Chief Inspector of any matters in relation to the rights and welfare of children that he considers significant.
|
— provide advice to regional directors and to ascertain the views of children about regulated children's services provided to them and to report such views to the Commission;
| |
— monitor and review the effectiveness of the arrangements made by the providers of regulated children's services for dealing with: complaints and representations made by or on behalf of children; the raising of concerns by employees of the providers of regulated children's services about the safety and welfare of children; ascertaining and responding to the views and wishes of children about the services provided to them;
| |
— report any cases where he has reasonable cause to suspect that any child to whom regulated children's services are provided is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm;
— ensure that where a complaint about a regulated children's service is made to the Commission, that it responds appropriately;
— report to the Commission and the Secretary of State any significant evidence relating to the rights and welfare of children who are provided with regulated children's services.
| |
| |
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
GOVERNMENT ACTION
14. We believe the statutory basis for Ofsted's functions
should include monitoring the adherence of service providers to
the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child, as well as other human rights instruments
ratified by the UK.
15. Ofsted should develop and make widely available its
strategy for protecting the human rights of vulnerable children,
including its plans for engaging with children using services
and in detention. This should include human rights and "communicating
with children" training for staff and disseminating information
on children's rights.
16. We deeply regret the dilution in law of the Children's
Rights Director role and urge an independent review of the role
of the Children's Rights Director in safeguarding and promoting
the human rights of children.
December 2007
3
Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
(2007) Raising Standards, Improving Lives Strategic Plan
2007-10. Back
4
Prime Ministers Office of Public Services Reform (2003) The Government's
Policy on Inspection of Public Services. Back
5
An independent inquiry commissioned by the Howard League for Penal
Reform, which reported in February 2006 on the use of physical
restraint, solitary confinement and forcible strip searching of
children in prisons, secure training centres and local authority
secure children's homes. Report available to order at: www.howardleague.org Back
6
Go to www.inquest.org.uk for further information. Back
7
Report of the Serious Case Review Panel to Lancashire Safeguarding
Children Board on the circumstances surrounding the death of AR,
published 3 September 2007. Available to download at: http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/education/safe_child_board/serious_case_review/ Back
8
Ofsted (2007) TellUs2 Questionnaire Summary Sheet National. Back
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