A group of watchdogs, including Ofsted, are to jointly carry out targeted inspections in schools where there is a risk of pupils being exposed to serious violence or exploitation by county lines drug gangs.
The inspections will happen in six unnamed local authority areas starting next week and examine how education, police, social services and health services are tackling serious youth violence.
Inspectors will examine what multi-agency interventions are taking place in schools and public places to address local issues of violence, including county lines activity.
This could include interventions in schools, parks, shopping centres or specific streets where groups of young people may be at risk.
In guidance for inspectors published today, the government warns that the county lines model of exploitation is partly “fuelling” serious violence.
It says the “violence, serious injury and potential loss of life associated with county lines disproportionately affect children who are transporting and holding the drugs for those at the top of the supply chain, who use those children to minimise risk of harm or prosecution to themselves”.
The teams will include representatives from Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. Each team will be led by an Ofsted social care inspector and there will be one schools inspector.
Where a school comes under the inspectors’ radar, they will be asked to show they have “effective systems to identify children at risk of, or subject to, serious youth violence and/or exploitation, and children who are missing from school”.
The schools inspector will review children’s experiences of cases that the local partnership is asked to audit. They will contact and meet with relevant schools, or education providers, that the children attend.
Schools will be asked to show they make timely referrals to access appropriate support, including to early help or children’s social care, that they and partner agencies share information appropriately, and that they work effectively together to make sure that children get the support they need.
Inspectors will evaluate whether schools “contribute effectively to a well-coordinated multi-agency response” to make sure that children get “the right support, help and protection at the right time”.
The inspectorates will consider interventions with individuals and groups of children to see how well agencies help them and reduce the risk of serious youth violence.
Local safeguarding partners will be questioned on how they liaise with schools to contribute effectively to multi-agency working, including joint work to ensure that children are protected from harm.
Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s national director for social care, said: “Serious youth violence has a devastating impact on the lives of children, families and communities. The causes are complex and the joint targeted area inspections framework is well placed to evaluate how different local agencies work together to tackle this critical issue.
“The response to serious youth violence is a developing area of multi-agency work and these inspections will explore the approaches local partnerships are taking.
“We want to identify practice that is making a real difference to children, and aspects of multi-agency work that need to improve, so that we can share this learning widely.”
The inspections will end in May next year. Reports into each area will be published, containing recommendations for change and observations, along with an overview of thematic findings.
