Yvette Stanley

Yvette Stanley is Ofsted's National Director for Social Care.

Yvette was previously Director for Children, Schools and Families at Merton Council and has 30 years of experience in children's services.

What to know about the April 2026 updates to inspection of local authority children’s services

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children looked after, children's homes, children's services, inspection framework, local authorities
A teenage girl smiles as she listens to something playing on orange headphones. Text reads: What to know about the April 2026 updates to inspection of local authority children’s services

Today we published updates to our inspection of local authority children’s services (ILACS) framework. These changes will apply to inspections and visits from 1 April 2026. Removing the overall effectiveness judgement We have carried out our commitment to removing the …

Help us improve the registration process for children’s social care services and early years and childcare provision

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: adoption, children's homes, children's services, early years, fostering, residential family centres, supported accommodation
Text reads: Help us improve the registration process for social care services and early years and childcare provision

Are you planning to register a children’s social care service, or register as an early years or childcare provider? We’d love to hear from you!  Ofsted is running user research sessions to explore how we can improve the application process.   If you're thinking of registering any of the services listed below, …

Prioritising social care registration applications: putting the needs of children and young people first

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's homes, local authorities, looked after children, social care professionals, social care regulation
Image text reads: Prioritising social care registration applications: putting the needs of children and young people first. Two teenagers, each holding a mug, are smiling at a phone screen.

Following an unprecedented and sustained rise in applications to register children’s homes, on Thursday 18 September, we published our revised policy for prioritising children’s homes applications. The revised policy sets out the criteria for urgently dealing with applications. In short, …

Finding out more about residential family centres

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: residential family centres, social care professionals
Text reads: 'Finding out more about residential family centres'. Next to this, an image of a woman with a clipboard thoughtfully listening to a teenage girl.

Residential family centres (RFCs) are establishments where vulnerable families are given accommodation, their capacity to parent safely and effectively is assessed, and they can be given the advice, guidance or counselling they need.   RFCs are designed to contribute to the …

Restraint and restrictive practices: positive environments for children

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's homes, looked after children, residential special schools, secure children's home
Text reads: 'Restraint and restrictive practices: positive environments for children'. Next to this, a child is sitting on her bed reading a book.

In this blog, I want to talk to providers of children’s homes, residential special schools and boarding schools about what we’re currently seeing on inspection when it comes to restraint and restrictive practices. I want to emphasise how important it …

Why your registration application may be taking longer than usual

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's homes, supported accommodation
Text reads: 'Why your registration application may be taking longer than usual'. Next to this, a child is cuddling a dog.

We want to address some concerns in the sector about registrations for children’s homes and supported accommodation taking longer than normal. First, I want to thank you for applying to register (whether you already have or are intending to) and …

Getting the ‘front door’ right for children and families

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's services, joint inspection, local authorities, multi-agency, partnership working, social care professionals

Back in 2018, we first set out the ingredients of effective multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, using what we had seen working well in our reviews and inspections. Over time, through our inspections, we’ve learned more about what the most effective arrangements …

The importance of oral health in children’s social care

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: care experienced, children looked after, children's homes, health, looked after children
Text reads: 'Blog post - The importance of oral health in children’s social care'. Next to the text is a photo of a teenager brushing her teeth.

Our goals for oral health in children’s social care We've been working closely with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to look at the importance of good oral health for children. We want to tackle oral health inequality by driving improvement …

The Families First Partnership programme: new guide and how this affects ILACS

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's services, inspection framework, local authorities, safeguarding, social care regulation
Text reads: 'Blog post - The Families First Partnership programme: new guide and how this affects ILACS ' Next to this, a person is typing on a laptop.

As part of the children’s social care reforms, the Department for Education (DfE) has published its Families First Partnership (FPP) programme guide. The guide is aimed at safeguarding partners who are implementing reforms around family help, multi-agency child protection and …

Changes to our SCCIF guidance to improve stability for vulnerable children

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: children's homes, children's services, local authorities, looked after children, social care regulation
Text reads: 'Blog post - Changes to our SCCIF guidance to improve stability for vulnerable children' Next to this, a young person is speaking to a man with a clipboard.

Next month, we will be making a small number of changes to our social care common inspection framework (SCCIF). These are mainly aimed at children’s homes and fostering agencies. The changes are intended to encourage more providers to look after …