Ofsted chief admits system ‘did not work as well as it should’ after abuse at school

Ofsted’s chief inspector has told MPs its inspection system “did not work as well as it should,” as she defended the watchdog’s failure to spot mistreatment of more than 100 youngsters over several years at a large residential school for disabled children.

Amanda Spielman was quizzed by the education select committee over why Ofsted had rated three Doncaster educational facilities run by the Hesley Group as “good” in 2019, despite evidence of a string of complaints and serious incidents going back to 2015.

A subsequent investigation into abuse claims at the Hesley homes published in 2022 found a “culture of abuse” in which children were punched, kicked, verbally taunted and inappropriately restrained, including being locked up overnight in bathrooms.

Quizzed by Nick Fletcher, Conservative MP for Don Valley, Spielman admitted that although there had been systematic concealing of evidence of abuse, the scandal had showed Ofsted’s inspection system “did not work as well as it should.”

There were about 200 complaints and serious incident notifications a year emerging from the three Hesley facilities, but this had not been out of line with the expected volume of such reports for a home of this size, Spielman said, and so the threshold for regulatory intervention had not been met.

Ofsted had checked each complaint and had been satisfied with the home’s explanations, she said.

A later inspection revealed the notifications and complaints it was made aware of “were only part of the picture” and a large amount of data had been withheld that, had Ofsted known about it, would probably have triggered intervention.

“There was deliberate concealment of substantial amounts of information,” Spielman told the committee.

The suspension of routine inspection during the Covid-19 lockdown had contributed to “eyes being taken off” vulnerable children, she said. But she admitted Ofsted should have been quicker to spot the problems: “It is a shocking case and I have apologised for the delay. I do believe that we could and should have put together that emerging pattern a few months earlier than we did.”

Hesley Group, which charged local authorities fees of up to £250,000 a year per child, closed the three Doncaster schools in 2021. Children typically had learning disabilities, autism or complex health needs and often presented with challenging behaviours.

A criminal investigation by South Yorkshire police into the instances of abuse is continuing.