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Education and Inspections Bill

moved Amendment No. 248ZB: "Page 83, line 4, at end insert ““; and" ( ) to safeguard and promote the best interests of the child”” The noble Baroness said: We are reaching the home straight. I shall speak also to the rest of the amendments standing in my name in this group. I should also mention that, although my name has not been added to Amendment No. 248CA, I support the spirit of what the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, seeks to do. I know that he is not very well today and I wish him well. The noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, will be speaking to that amendment. Amendment No. 248ZB would add to the functions of the office of the chief inspector the duty to safeguard and promote the best interests of the child. Of course, any organisation providing services to, or inspecting services for, children should have such a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Although we welcome the provisions in the Bill which state that in performing its functions the office has to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the rights and welfare of children, we feel that this should be included in the functions of the office rather than in the performance of the office’s functions. Perhaps we can hear angels dancing on the heads of pins at the moment but that is where we would prefer to see that provision. Amendment No. 248ZC is another ““voice of the child”” amendment. It would ensure that the office—I cannot get used to calling it ““the office””; I have a picture in my mind of television soap operas—in performing its functions, took account of the views expressed by children. That is an honourable duty. The Minister has been kind enough to accept it in other respects and I hope that he will also look kindly on the idea in this regard. Amendment No. 248ZD would insert definitions of ““rights”” and ““well-being””. We welcome the office’s functions with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the rights and welfare of children. However, for the sake of clarity, we would hope that the definition of rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Act 1998, and the definition of ““well-being”” in the Children Act 2004 could be added to Clause 109(4), as no one would then be in any doubt about what we mean by those things. Amendment No. 248ZG would insert the definition of ““well-being”” into Clause 110 regarding the functions of the chief inspector and his duty to keep the Secretary of State informed about improvements in well-being. Amendments Nos. 248ZE and 248ZF have been suggested to us by the NSPCC, which believes that a function of the chief inspector should be to keep the Secretary of State informed about the quality of improvements in outcomes achieved by children in receipt of social services. The wording of the Bill relates to Ofsted’s current inspection methodology, which has a very prescriptive, standards-based approach, lacking in user-focused outcomes, in the opinion of some. A reference to improving outcomes and well-being, as set out in the Every Child Matters Change for Children programme is essential to ensure that the focus on children and young people is maintained, and in particular, the focus on the most vulnerable children and young people for whom inspection arguably plays an even more important role. Amendment No. 248C puts a duty on the Children’s Rights Director to co-operate with the Children’s Commissioner for England. Those two roles are complementary and a duty to co-operate would formalise the current effective working relations. Amendment No. 248A was suggested to us by the Commission for Racial Equality. It states that in the performance of the chief inspector’s functions, he "““shall ensure that inspections and all his other functions are carried out with regard to race equality and in particular the general statutory duty””." Although Ofsted is currently subject to the general and specific duties, it is taking an increasingly narrow view of its obligations under the Race Relations Act. Ofsted sees its function of reporting to the Secretary of State as discretionary when patterns of inequality emerge in relation to compliance with specific or general duties. Patterns of inequality can include differential or disproportionate rates of exclusion, significant differentials in levels of attainment, disproportionate or differential rates of admission failures, admission patterns or in individual inspection reports. It is difficult to see how such patterns will emerge, given that Ofsted has stated that it sees any analysis of self-evaluation form data for such trends as being outside its current statutory duties and legal obligations. These self-evaluation form data are collated by individual schools. Ofsted has said that its new brief reports, which we all welcome, cannot hope to cover all of the school’s statutory duties. That approach means that it is increasingly likely that schools inspection reports will not assess the extent to which schools are promoting race equality and good race relations. Ofsted currently interprets its responsibilities under the race equality duty so narrowly that it gives it wide discretion as to when and how, or even if it will inspect, assess and report on race equality compliance and outcomes. This is a particular concern, given that the newly enlarged Ofsted is taking over the functions of other inspectorates, some of which currently interpret their responsibilities more broadly, such as the adult learning inspectorate which looks specifically at equality of opportunity as a distinct section. It seems that we have the marrying of organisations that take a somewhat different approach to this issue. To be able to deliver the objectives of the Government’s wide strategy, the Commission for Racial Equality tells us that it believes there is a need for a clear requirement written into the Bill that obliges Ofsted to ensure that its inspection, assessment and reporting functions are carried out with regard to the race equality duties. That would limit its discretion and remove the possibility of continuing inequalities and outcomes in education, and so on. On top of that, the clause would help the Government to fulfil its IOSS commitment to increasing race equality and community cohesion. It will certainly help them to honour its commitment of placing a duty on all schools to promote social inclusion and community cohesion. The last of my amendments in this group is Amendment No. 248F, which requires the chief inspector to have particular regard to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, ensure co-operation arrangements are in place to improve their well-being and promote the best interests of children as per the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child for children who are detained in secure training centres, local authority secure children’s homes and youth offending institutions, or who are in the process of being adopted or fostered. Children in these settings are especially vulnerable, and we believe that Her Majesty’s chief inspector should have particular regard to their needs. I beg to move.