The government is clear that inspection and regulation should not discourage providers from caring for children with high levels of need where this can be done safely.

Regulation 44 provides independent scrutiny of children’s homes to help ensure children are effectively safeguarded and their wellbeing is promoted. Reports are shared with Ofsted, who use them to develop lines of enquiry for inspection and regulatory activity and take urgent action if children are at risk.

In 2025, Ofsted amended its inspection framework to support placement stability for vulnerable children and is now consulting on how inspection can better support providers to care for the children who have the most complex lives.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 establishes a new statutory framework to authorise the deprivation of liberty of children in provision other than a secure children’s home. This will facilitate different types of community-based placements to achieve better stability and improve long term outcomes for children requiring a higher level of support.

The department has recently announced £18.5 million for our Home Again programme which will improve the lives of children with complex needs by helping services work together more effectively, providing earlier intervention, reducing crisis situations and supporting children in the most appropriate settings.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introduces new powers for Ofsted to inspect academy trusts. These inspections will focus on trusts, rather than schools. The detailed arrangements will be set out in secondary legislation and subject to proposed consultation.

My Lords, Ofsted, like all public services, is expected to operate efficiently and effectively to provide the best value for money for taxpayers and use its resources to best effect in providing high-quality inspection. Sir Martyn Oliver is very much focused on that, and I understand that he has already taken action internally to prioritise Ofsted’s resource on inspection activity. We will continue to work closely with Ofsted to ensure that it continues to deliver effectively in future.

As I said in my initial response, Ofsted, like any well-run organisation, has looked at where it is spending its budget and has refocused that. The Government have given it additional funding for the uplift, particularly in school inspections, that has been expected. Obviously we work very closely with Ofsted, and I cannot comment on any future spending review.

The Government remain committed to legislating to set up a register of children not in school. The noble Lord may be aware that the honourable Member for Meon Valley has introduced a Private Member’s Bill, and we will be working hard with her as she progresses that.

My Lords, improving attendance is a top priority for this Government, because it is vital for children’s learning, well-being and long-term development. As part of its existing framework, Ofsted expects schools to do all they reasonably can to achieve the highest possible attendance. Inspectors will check that schools have a clear understanding of the causes of absence in their school and that the necessary strategies are in place to improve attendance.

The death of Ruth Perry was the most awful tragedy. The Inquest has now concluded and it is clear that lessons need to be learned. The department is working with His Majesty’s Chief Inspector to look closely at the coroner’s findings. The department and Ofsted will make further changes beyond those already announced in June 2023 where these are needed to make sure that the inspection system supports schools and teachers, and ultimately secures Ruth Perry’s legacy.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the noble Lord directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the noble Lord directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the noble Lord directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Ofsted’s report ‘Fight or flight? How ‘stuck’ schools are overcoming isolation’, published in January 2020, defined a stuck school as a school judged less than good in every inspection it had in a 13-year period up to 31 August 2019 which had at least 4 full inspections in the period.

Ofsted has not carried out any further analysis on this cadre of schools since that time. At the end of the 2020/21 academic year, however, Ofsted identified 390 stuck schools based on a comparable definition.

Ofsted inspections are designed to provide parents, schools, government and the wider public with independent, rounded assessments of the quality of education being provided to pupils, and their safeguarding. Inspectors are expected to uphold the highest professional standards in their work and to treat everyone they meet during inspections fairly, with respect and sensitivity. Inspectors work constructively with school leaders to understand the context of the school and involve leaders throughout.

The current model of inspection was introduced in September 2019, following extensive consultation. There are no plans to change the approach to inspection currently, but Ofsted regularly reviews its inspection handbook to take into consideration the changing circumstances in which schools operate. For example, Ofsted has updated its school inspection handbook to recognise that schools are operating in challenging circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ofsted’s programme of multi-academy trust summary evaluations (MATSEs) remained suspended between September 2021 and February half-term 2022, as Ofsted prioritised the resumption of its full school inspection programme during this period. MATSEs are now being scheduled, although none have been completed at this time. Ofsted expects to carry out a number of evaluations during the remainder of the academic year.

The government is clear that the needs of the child are paramount when making decisions about care placements. The child’s safety, the suitability and quality of a child’s placement in care is our absolute priority. As at 31 March 2020, 93% of independent fostering agencies and 80% of all private and voluntary children’s homes were judged good or outstanding by Ofsted. We believe that a mix of provision can provide quality and increase placement options for local authorities. This mix has enabled local authorities to identify much-needed foster homes for children over the past months, providing the flexibility needed to respond to the demands and pressures of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The government understands the concerns of the Ofsted Director of Social Care. The annual Ofsted data is a helpful source of insight into the children’s social care market and we continue to monitor it. We have taken action to help local authorities develop strategic approaches to securing enough placements. This includes investing part of our £200 million children’s social care Innovation Programme funding in 3 projects to improve the supply of placements. Additional funding for 2 of these projects was confirmed on 24 April as part of the £12.1 million to support vulnerable children who are most at risk during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, in September 2019, we funded 7 local authority-led partnerships to test new approaches to commissioning and sufficiency planning in foster care, worth almost £500,000.

This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the noble Lord and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses

The government has no plans to update the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 2006 to enable officers of local authorities to inspect and take copies of the admission and attendance registers of academy schools in their areas.

The department intends on publishing a review of the amendments to the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 2006 as amended later this year.

The amendments that will be reviewed include regulation 5 which covers the contents of the admission register, regulation 8 which covers deletion from the admission register, and regulation 12 which covers information to be provided to the local authority.

The regulations apply to all schools in England.

In June 2018 the department published the attached guidance ‘Gender separation in mixed schools’, to support schools in complying with the law on this matter. Such separation is permissible when in accordance with exemptions under the Equality Act 2010 – for instance those related to the correction of educational disadvantage or the needs of different sexes, provision for competitive sports, or is insignificant enough to be regarded as de minimis.

Ofsted began systematically reporting on pupil segregation matters from September 2018 and has drawn attention to this in several inspection reports published since that date. The exact number of schools reported by Ofsted could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The department is taking action in relation to each school where this has occurred, by seeking details of the school’s plans to eliminate segregation or making organisational changes to the school and setting out the approvals process which has to be followed. The department is also in touch with a number of schools thought to operate segregation for pupils to discuss their plans, and has liaised with representative bodies for the schools involved.

Information regarding how many schools in England treat girls differently to boys in terms of (1) common room access, (2) playground activities, (3) eating arrangements, and (4) any other activities in the school but outside the classroom, is not held centrally.

We have no immediate plans to implement the provisions in Chapter 1 of Part 4 of the Education and Skills Act which enable the registration and regulation of institutions providing part-time education because we do not intend to bring such settings into the same regulatory system as used for independent schools. However, the Government remains committed to regulating out-of-school education settings. Between November 2015 and January 2016 we conducted a call for evidence to gather information on the number of settings, hours of operation, number of children who attend and the frequency of attendance along with any safeguarding procedures and concerns in these settings. We will respond to the call for evidence and set out next steps in due course.