Ofsted guidance for whistleblowers released

Ofsted has issued fresh guidance on how it deals with whistleblowers’ tip-offs about local authority safeguarding arrangements.

Ofsted set up a whistleblowing hotline in April 2009 to allow frontline staff working in children’s services to alert the body if they have serious concerns about practice.

A recent consultation aimed to find out if users were clear about Ofsted’s role in relation to local authority safeguarding services and what action they are able to take.

It also sought to discover if the existing guidelines are sufficiently clear.

The revised guidance further emphasises the role of the hotline, explains the difference between a complaint and whistle-blowing more clearly and includes more information about how Ofsted deals with complaints about individual schools.

It also explains about confidentiality arrangements for whistleblowers in more detail, and gives examples of the types of concerns Ofsted can deal with.