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Education and Inspections Bill

Amendment No. 248ZAA, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, concerns paragraph 5 to Schedule 11. I stress that these remuneration and salary arrangements for members of the office are common to any public organisation with a non-executive board. They are not unusual and replicate those made in other equivalent cases. It is only right that members of the non-executive board are financially compensated for their services through a remuneration package, the payment of allowances and pensions. Removal of this provision would limit the ability to recruit members of sufficient expertise. The noble Baroness asked what pressure there would be on the new Ofsted to contain costs. There is a requirement on the office in that regard under Clause 108(1)(c) and Clause 109(1)(c). Clause 109(1)(c ) states: "““The Office is to perform its functions for the general purpose of encouraging…(c) the efficient and effective use of resources in the carrying””" out of its duties. The savings that we expect to be realised by bringing together all these inspectorates are set out in the regulatory impact assessment, which states in paragraph 20.29 that while there willbe transitional costs of around £13.5 million to£19.7 million, there is an expectation of annual savings of £6.4 million, which means that there is an implied payback period, once cumulative savings have covered any transitional costs, of between two years, nine months and three years, eight months. I should stress that the Government agree with Ofsted and will agree with it in future regarding the cost envelope in which that has to be conducted. That is an absolute cash limit which imposes significant discipline on Ofsted and will continue to do so. On Amendment No. 248ZAB, paragraph 7 to Schedule 11 is a standard provision, giving the non-executive board flexibility to establish whatever committees and sub-committees it chooses. There is nothing unusual in that respect. As my honourable friend said in another place, at the moment we do not know what pattern of committees and sub-committees the office will choose to establish and we regard that as beyond our remit to determine. The office should be free to determine those matters itself. The noble Lord, Lord Sutherland, spoke to Amendments Nos. 248ZAD, 248ZAE and 248ZAF with all the authority of a former chief inspector. I appreciate the points that he made. He was the first head of Ofsted and established it as one of our most successful inspectorates over the past 15 years, if one looks at the results in terms of higher school standards and the increased accountability in the schools system. However, I think that the noble Lord would accept that our proposed model of a non-executive board is not unusual. Indeed, it is much more common for organisations of this kind than that which has been in place for Ofsted. The present chief inspector, Maurice Smith, and his predecessor, David Bell, who is now Permanent Secretary in my department, met noble Lords a fortnight ago to look at these provisions. Both expressed satisfaction with the current provisions and they believed that the demarcation of responsibilities between the proposed non-executive board and the chief inspector are appropriate to the task and did not raise concerns. I should emphasise that the Bill provides the board with no powers to overrule the chief inspector on any matter concerning his inspection and regulatory functions. It places those powers and duties firmly and unambiguously on the chief inspector. So, the independence of the chief inspector to report onthe findings from any inspection and to advise the Secretary of State as he or she sees fit are firmly enshrined in Clause 110. As in the time of the noble Lord, Lord Sutherland, as chief inspector, the new Ofsted will be a non-ministerial government department, emphasising that it will continue to have the same status and independence as today. Her Majesty’s Chief inspector will continue to be appointed by Her Majesty in Council, which is a further significant guarantee of the inspectorate’s independence. The noble Lord raised issues relating to the relationship and accountability between the chief inspector and the board. I believe that they are fairly set out. But one of the pertinent points raised by Maurice Smith and David Bell in their meeting with noble Lords was that, at the moment, Her Majesty’s Chief inspector’s accountability for his performance is to the Secretary of State in my department, with whom the chief inspector has an annual meeting that determines performance bonuses and issues of that kind. Those who wish to safeguard the independence of Ofsted would agree that being accountable to the board will be a more substantial safeguard of the independence of the chief inspector than is the case at present, because there is no board to the Department for Education and Skills through the Permanent Secretary. Amendment No. 248ZH, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, seeks to ensure that the chief inspector exercises his functions with a view to promoting higher standards. I am pleased to tell her that the inspection remits under which the chief inspector works will continue to be agreed with the Secretary of State, as now, and they will give primacy to the promotion of higher standards—so there will be no change in that regard. Amendments Nos. 248D and 248E were spoken to by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, and tabled at the instigation of the Local Government Association. At present, a local authority’s performance rating for its children’s services functions is arrived at by Ofsted and CSCI discussing and agreeing a rating constructed of two parts: for education and for children’s social care. Clause 130 provides for a single performance rating to be awarded by the chief inspector following the transfer of functions. The Government believe, first, that tracking year-on-year progress is a key element in driving up performance and, secondly, that providing an overall rating enhances local accountability by providing local communities with a simple measure of their council’s performance. Those provisions are in the Bill but I should be very happy to discuss the matter further with the noble Baroness if that would be helpful.