The Secretary of State has allowed Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector
to temporarily suspend all routine inspections of schools,
further education, early years and social care providers. Urgent
inspections where specific concerns have been raised can still go
ahead. This will allow us to prioritise the immediate safety of
children where necessary.
As far as we are able, we will continue to undertake our
important regulatory work to help maintain social care provision
for the most vulnerable children, and the registration of vital
childcare services. We will operate as a proportionate and
responsible regulator, in what we know are challenging times,
focused on children’s safeguarding and wellbeing.
All of our Ofsted Inspectors – those serving headteachers who
undertake inspections on our behalf – have returned to their
schools. We are in daily contact with the Department for
Education to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact across
education and social care.
Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, said:
“I’m grateful for the Secretary of State’s permission to suspend
routine inspections. It’s clearly the right thing to do when
teachers and social workers are under pressure as a result of the
coronavirus outbreak. We all need to support them in their work.
“We will monitor what’s happening across education and social
care and we will reserve the right to inspect where we believe
the safety of children could be at risk, or we have other serious
concerns. We will also continue to register and regulate social
care providers, childminders and nurseries, so that these vital
services can continue to support children and their families.”
