As part of our strategic scrutiny plan for this year we will work with scrutiny partners to take a more focused look at the experiences and outcomes of children and young people subject to compulsory supervision orders and living at home with parents. Our joint inspections will look at the services provided for them by health workers (for example, school nurses, health visitors and doctors), social workers, police officers and lots of other people who work with them and their families. 

One of the foundations of the Promise is about supporting families to stay together and emphasis is placed on the importance of providing timely support to ensure children can stay in their families wherever it is safe to do so. By considering the experiences of children who are subject to compulsory supervision orders and living at home with their parents, we aim to better understand what is helping to improve outcomes for children and young people and what is getting in the way. 

Children and young people have told us about the importance of being able to experience sincere human contact and enduring relationships. Our approach therefore looks carefully at how well services and systems are organised so that children and young people can experience continuity in their care and develop and sustain lasting relationships. Our inspections also consider whether legal measures are being used appropriately to achieve security and stability for children. 

Staff who are well trained and who feel valued and empowered are more likely to be able to provide high quality services for children and young people. We therefore explore how well staff are supported to carry out their task. 

We know that partners recognise that assessment and planning are critical to ensure the safety of, and improving outcomes for, children and young people. However, we also know that performance in assessment and planning is not as consistently strong across the country as it needs to be. We will look to see if robust quality assurance and high quality reflective supervision are in place to support these important processes.

Strong collaborative leadership is essential and challenging in the context of providing high quality public services in an integrated landscape. We consider the effectiveness of leadership and how well leaders can demonstrate what difference they are making to the lives of children and young people.