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Sutherland Inquiry

Let me answer the hon. Gentleman's questions first. I shall ensure that the expert group does a thorough job, and I will forward its conclusions on future testing to the House. We will need to make future decisions at that point, because as I have said, the regime is not set in stone. However, I disagree with his proposals for key stage 2 tests. The review process is ongoing, but the evidence we have so far on the number of reviews is that it has increased. Out of a potential 3.9 million applications for review, the total number of review applications that have so far been received and processed is less than 200,000. That compares with 50,000 in the previous years. That may partly be to do with heightened concern because of this year's events, but the change to borderlining will also have led to a substantial increase in the number of reviews. I cannot give the hon. Gentleman an answer as to which of those two things has been more important, but I shall keep him and the House updated on those figures. I will also ensure that the procurement process is properly managed. Indeed, I hope that the letter from Lord Sutherland that I have released today, which says that he will continue to oversee how the procurement works, will give the hon. Gentleman some assurance. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that this was a case study in poor risk management. That is made very clear in Sutherland's report, but it is also clear that the contract was delivered at arm's length from Ministers by trusted delivery partners in the QCA and NAA. On repeated occasions, the QCA and NAA at executive level failed to escalate risks upwards to the board and to Ministers, who were given repeated assurances that things were okay when they were not. Those executives then failed to follow up problems when they were identified. I read out the quote from Lord Sutherland because it is telling. It points out that time and again during 2008 my officials and Ministers raised questions with the QCA and were reassured that things were okay. Usually, it was the chief executive of the QCA, Ken Boston, who responded, but sometimes it was the managing director of the NAA, David Gee. Whichever it was, they reassured us that things were on track. As Sutherland says, it was only on 30 June that it was brought to our attention that tests were being delayed—