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The inspection of children’s centres has been put on hold pending the outcome of the government consultation, Ofsted has confirmed.

Along with its latest children’s centre statistics, the inspectorate gave an explanation for the temporary suspension, stating: ‘The secretary of state does not consider it appropriate to start a new inspection cycle under a framework which is likely to change.’

The consultation, which is expected to launch before the end of the year, will invite the views of “everyone who accesses, works in or oversees children’s centres”, childcare minister Sam Gyimah confirmed in September.

Meanwhile, the latest statistics released by Ofsted show that 56% of open and inspected children’s centre groups were judged ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in the period from 31 March to 31 August 2015, representing a four percentage point increase.

However, 39% of groups were judged as ‘requires improvement’, while 6% received an ‘inadequate’ rating.

The number of group children’s centres has also fallen, from 214 as of 31 March to 196 as of 31 August.

The proportion of single children’s centres receiving these ratings during this period remained the same at 67%.

At the end of August there were 2,030 open and inspected single centres.

While the North East of England saw the highest proportion of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ centres (81%), the South West remained the lowest performing at 53%.

The Alliance, while welcoming the increase in ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ group centres “given the increasing shift towards a group children’s centre model”, expressed concern at both the proportion of ‘less than good’ services and the suspension of inspections.

Chief executive Neil Leitch said: “It’s now four months since the government announced plans to consult on the future of children’s centres, but we remain none the wiser on how it plans to tackle the significant challenges facing these services.

“It is critical that the government doesn’t drag its feet on this issue,” he added.