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A county council has vowed to break all contact with social care inspectors, after rejecting its inspection report. Lincolnshire CC has said it will only co-operate with the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) where legally required to do so, unless its adult social care assessment is withdrawn and ‘a proper and competent assessment is made'. It claimed the inspection was not conducted properly, and the council had hired an independent inspector to check its results. Lincolnshire's leader also claimed it was not alone, and other councils were also unhappy with their assessments. The county is now seeking legal advice on the assessment, which rated the service as one star, or ‘adequate'. Council leader, Martin Hill, said the council had acted on the past recommendation of inspectors, and had ‘thought very carefully' before rejecting ‘this inadequate and contrary judgment'. ‘It is extremely disappointing that this latest CSCI judgement is so adrift of reality and so poorly drafted that this council has no alternative but to reject it. I am asking the minister to ditch this judgement and commission a replacement, more professionally executed and justified. ‘We are considering legal action and are actively exploring this with our advisers.' While inspectors acknowledged some improvement, they had not recognised the ‘substantial improvement' to adult social care the council believed had been achieved. Cllr Hill added: ‘We can no longer have confidence in CSCI, and in future, we will only be engaging with it where we are legally required to do so.' The CSCI inspection means the council remains two-star in the final-ever Comprehensive Performance Assessment score. This will mean it will face a more intense inspection regime under the new Comprehensive Area Assessment system.

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CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

County snubs social care inspectorate

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