An ex-executive director of the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) has railed against Ofsted's tougher inspections for paving the way towards increased government intervention.

Chris Waterman spoke out after it was revealed that three-quarters of the 43 children's services departments assessed under Ofsted's single inspection framework (SIF) had been rated in the bottom two grades, with nearly half inspected so far seeing a fall in their judgement.