Asked by
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of
the concerns expressed by the board of Ofsted, at its meeting on
20 September 2023, that the reliability of school inspections
will be compromised if funding is further constrained.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, Ofsted, like all public services, is expected to
operate efficiently and effectively to provide the best value for
money for taxpayers and use its resources to best effect in
providing high-quality inspection. Sir Martyn Oliver is very much
focused on that, and I understand that he has already taken
action internally to prioritise Ofsted's resource on inspection
activity. We will continue to work closely with Ofsted to ensure
that it continues to deliver effectively in future.
(Lab)
I thank the Minister for that response. Sir Martyn Oliver has
become the new chief inspector, but the Ofsted chair, who voiced
the concerns mentioned in my Question, is still in her post, so
there is continuity at the top of the organisation and that
concern remains. In its response to the Education Committee's
report on Ofsted last month, Ofsted highlighted that it has taken
on considerably expanded roles and responsibilities and yet its
funding is now some 30% lower in real terms than it was in 2010.
How do the Government expect Ofsted to adequately carry out its
primary responsibility of school inspections without sufficient
resources? The organisation itself clearly believes that to be
the case.
(Con)
As I said in my initial response, Ofsted, like any well-run
organisation, has looked at where it is spending its budget and
has refocused that. The Government have given it additional
funding for the uplift, particularly in school inspections, that
has been expected. Obviously we work very closely with Ofsted,
and I cannot comment on any future spending review.
(Con)
My Lords, as I am responsible for 44 university technical
colleges, I have received lots of Ofsted inspections, and I am
glad to say that 85% resulted in good or outstanding ratings but
15% were rated as failing. I do not resent it; I do not object.
Ofsted has told us what we have to do better. Any education
system in the world requires an independent inspectorate. That is
what Ofsted is, and it should be supported.
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for his remarks. I agree that we have a
system in this country with high autonomy in our schools. We
trust our school and trust leaders to deliver for our children,
but with that autonomy goes high accountability.
(LD)
My Lords, there is a principle that what gets inspected gets
done. Can the Government say whether, if inspections are not done
properly, we might be doing things badly? We have got to ensure
that there are enough resources if we have a system of stick and
carrot.
(Con)
I take the noble Lord's point, but there is not a lot of evidence
to suggest overall that inspection is not done well. There is
significant quality assurance of inspections, and, during
2022-23, an overall judgment was changed in only 0.6% of
state-funded school inspections.
(CB)
My Lords, I declare an interest in that I, like the noble Lord,
Lord Baker, have been “Ofsteded”. Moving on from his question,
while I feel that Ofsted's methods and judgments need changing,
because it does a vital job it is vitally important that it is
valued and that the people who work for it are made to feel
valued.
Baroness Barran (Con)
Again, I can only agree with the noble Lord. I was reflecting on
the new verb that has entered the lexicon of being “Ofsteded”—we
will leave that. This is important. The work that Ofsted is doing
with the Big Listen, in talking to parents, teachers, school
leaders and children, will, I hope, go a long way to ensure that
trust and confidence is achieved—and that therefore, at the end
of it, the institution and those who work for it are valued.
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, one of the key functions of an Ofsted inspection is to
make sure that no one is employed who has a criminal record
relating to harming children. Sadly, there are over 80,000 adults
currently barred from working with children. When Ofsted
discovers that a head teacher and senior leadership team are not
doing proper employment checks, what resources are then
available, either from Ofsted or elsewhere, to ensure that that
senior leadership team is immediately retrained to ensure they do
those vital employment checks?
Baroness Barran (Con)
It would be up to the trust, in relation to an academy, or the
local authority to address those specific weaknesses. The
department has led on the development of a framework of
professional qualifications: leadership qualifications for heads,
executive leaders and senior leaders. All those frameworks are
clear about the role of leaders in complying with the law in
relation to safeguarding and statutory guidance. As my noble
friend knows very well, that statutory guidance, Keeping Children
Safe in Education, is extremely clear on recruitment practices,
DBS and wider appointment checks, but also on referrals back to
the Disclosure and Barring Service if someone is dismissed or
removed.
Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Lab)
Ofsted reports have seen a sevenfold increase in references to
sexual assault since 2017. Mentions of safeguarding issues have
doubled and mentions of sexual harassment have risen from zero to
106. How are the Government ensuring that the regulator is able
to identify where safeguarding problems exist on a regular basis
if further funding is constrained?
Baroness Barran (Con)
The fact that Ofsted is identifying more issues of this type
reflects a few different things. Clearly, as in society more
broadly, sadly, we do not know whether some of these issues are
increasing in volume or whether we are just getting better at
identifying them. For the safety of children, it is crucial that
Ofsted identifies them, but it is even more important that the
schools identify them, and do so early, because Ofsted
inspections are periodic and children need to be safe every
day.
Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD)
My Lords, the old HMIs used to be viewed by schools as critical
friends and were welcomed. Teachers facing an Ofsted inspection
now do so with dread, because they fear that they will be
criticised above all else. Is there any chance that Ofsted could
go back to being friendly in its inspections?
Baroness Barran (Con)
I think we have to be a little careful with that kind of
generalisation. Like with any inspection, one may well be
apprehensive or nervous ahead of it, but 90% of our schools are
now good or outstanding, so the outcome for the vast majority of
schools is a very good result. I remind the noble Baroness that
Ofsted inspectors are almost all either former or serving
teachers, head teachers and senior leaders.
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to associate myself with the remarks
of the noble Baroness, Lady Garden. I do not think that
“Ofsteded” becoming a verb is cause for mirth; it is cause for
great concern. I do not recognise in the comments of the Minister
the statistics from the survey by the National Education Union,
in which 62% of teachers said that Ofsted had affected their
mental health. To quote Nick Wigmore, a primary school teacher
from Rochdale:
“Ofsted turns up every four to five years to provide one-word
judgements … It's a system that doesn't work”.
Given that there are huge problems with teacher retention and
mental health issues, do the Government acknowledge that this is
something they need to consider very seriously? I should declare
an interest, in that it is long-term Green Party policy to
abolish Ofsted.
Baroness Barran (Con)
I think the noble Baroness has heard from other noble Lords who
are much more expert than I am of the value of Ofsted. In
relation to one-word judgments, it is extremely important that
parents have a simple and clear understanding—the noble Baroness
rolls her eyes, but it is true. Parents value it. I commend to
her the research on parent opinions about the value of Ofsted
reports; they value those judgments, and it is important that
parents are recognised in this.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that there are certain areas in
which we need more regulation within schools? I particularly draw
to her attention the fact that we now have more obese children
than when the Labour Government were in power, with very little
review taking place of the regulations that govern school meals.
When will we see any possible change in that area?
Baroness Barran (Con)
Sadly, in most of the developed world there are more obese
children. I am not sure there is a direct correlation with who is
in power. As he knows—I thank the noble Lord for taking the time
to meet the other day—this is work in progress.
