Monitoring Performance
Joint Area Reviews
Joint Area Reviews (JARs) evaluate how local services work together to contribute to the achievements, progress and well-being of children and young people growing up in an area against the five outcomes identified in the Every Child Matters green paper. It incorporates the inspection of youth services and replaces the separate inspections of local education authorities, local authorities' social services, Connexions services and the provision for students aged 14-19. Normally, the JAR is carried out at the same time as the Audit Commission's corporate assessment of the council and is aligned with the inspection of youth offending teams undertaken by HMI Probation.
The services reviewed in the JAR include council services, health services, police and probation services, and publicly funded services provided by voluntary bodies. Evidence from other inspections, such as schools, further education colleges and residential settings contribute to the review. By the end of 2008, 150 joint area reviews will be carried out, on a three-year cycle, which began in September 2005.
For further detail on the JAR process, click to visit the Ofsted website [opens in new window].
The YJB provides the same data to Ofsted for the joint area reviews as that provided for the annual performance assessments, updated with more recent data if available. YOTs are given the opportunity to update their contextual reports in light of the updated data if they wish. The joint area reviews take place throughout the year and YJB regional managers will inform YOTs when they can update their reports.
Where an HMIP joint inspection has been carried out at the YOT in the lead up to the JAR, the lead inspector will attend one day of the JAR fieldwork to feed in their findings. Where the two processes are not aligned, an HMIP inspector will carry out a brief desk top exercise, looking at the original HMIP inspection report and the subsequent progress made by the YOT, and provide an update to the JAR inspection team. The JAR inspectors will not receive a copy of the self-assessment completed by the YOT in advance of the HMIP inspection.
For information on the timing of the joint area reviews and the requirements for YOTs to provide briefings, see the guidance document below.