Written question asked by David Laws (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 16 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 18 July 2007. It was answered by Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour) on Monday, 23 July 2007 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Local Education Authorities: Inspections

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make a statement on his plans for the inspection of local education authorities.

Answer: The Secretary of State has no plans to request separate inspections of local authority education functions. These functions are within the scope of Ofsted’s annual performance assessments of children’s services, and of joint area reviews of children’s services by Ofsted and other inspectorates. The Secretary of State has approved a timetable for a programme of joint area reviews, to cover every local authority in England between 2005 and 2008.

Secondary information