Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat). It was answered by Baroness Morgan of Drefelin (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 January 2010.

Ofqual

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families did not consult Parliament about the appointment of the first chair of Ofqual.

Answer: My Lords, following an open competition, Kathleen Tattersall was appointed in April 2008 to chair interim Ofqual. We made it clear that she would be the first chief regulator following the passage of the relevant legislation and have repeatedly said that since. In June 2008, the Government announced that appointments of new candidates to various posts, including that of chief regulator, should be subject to pre-appointment hearings and that existing appointments, such as that of Kathleen Tattersall, would fall outside those arrangements.

Secondary information