Ofsted's Structure and Strategy
13. In response to the alterations in Ofsted's remit
described above, the inspectorate has made changes to its senior
management structure. In 2002-03,
changes were made to accommodate the new responsibilities for
the inspection of childcare, including the appointment of Mr Maurice
Smith as Director of Early Years. Structural reorganisation has
continued in the past year, with the establishment of a new strategic
board and two non-executive directors. The board is intended to
help provide "leadership and strategic direction".[14]
Ofsted also announced its intention to recruit a further twenty
HMI (Her Majesty's Inspectors),[15]
as well as the appointment of Mrs Miriam Rosen to the post of
Director, Education to replace Mr. David Taylor, who retired as
Director of Inspection in April 2004.[16]
14. Ofsted has consolidated a considerable shift
in remit over the past year, but it is also preparing for further
changes, anticipated in the Green Paper Every Child Matters:
next steps.[17] The
Green Paper sets out the Government's plans for the reorganisation
of children's services in the wake of the Laming Inquiry into
the death of Victoria Climbié. Legislation to enact these
changes has come before Parliament in the form of the Children
Bill. The Bill proposes a new inspection framework for children's
services, in which Ofsted will take the lead:
"The Bill requires Her Majesty's Chief Inspector
of Schools, in consultation with other inspectorates and involving
key stakeholders, to develop and publish a Framework for Inspection
of Children's Services. The purpose of the Framework is to ensure
that inspections, reviews or investigations that relate to children's
services properly evaluate and report on the extent to which children's
services improve the well-being of children and young people.
The Bill enables the Secretary of State to make Regulations requiring
two or more inspectorates to carry out Joint Area Reviews of local
authority areas. Reviews will be conducted in accordance with
arrangements made by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools
[…] The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSI), together
with the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI),
the Audit Commission (AC) and other relevant inspectorates will
have key roles working closely with Ofsted in developing the Framework
for integrated inspection and in carrying out Joint Area Reviews.
The Bill provides for inspectorates to co-operate with each other,
for example, through sharing information; the scheduling and co-ordination
of inspection activity and the delegation of functions amongst
themselves".[18]
15. In
May 2004, Ofsted published Every child matters: inspecting
services for children and young people, a discussion paper
on an integrated approach to the inspection of children's services.
The paper emerged from a steering group of commissions and inspectorates
and sets out broad proposals for an integrated approach to inspection.
16. Further to its expansion into this new area of
inspection, Ofsted has been reviewing its traditional work inspecting
schools. In February 2004, the inspectorate published a consultation
paper, The Future of Inspection, in which it proposed that
school inspection should become "a short, sharp review, carried
out with minimal notice".[19]
The new regime is intended to lighten the burden and costs of
inspection and make better use of existing data, and would entail
a far greater role for self-evaluation. In June 2004, Ofsted and
the DfES published A New Relationship with Schools, which
confirmed the Government's intention to press forward with these
changes.
17. Having completed two inspections of all English
schools in the last ten years, Ofsted can be considered a mature
institution. Nevertheless, the inspectorate has recently assumed
a number of new responsibilities and considerable changes are
on the horizon. Ofsted has already taken on the inspection of
day care and 16-19 education. In the coming years, it will
be extensively involved in inspecting the new arrangements for
children's services set out in the Green Paper Every Child
Matters. The recent publication, A New Relationship with
Schools, also confirms that there will be significant changes
to its 'core work' of school inspection, intended to streamline
the process and reduce the burden of inspection. At this mature
stage Ofsted can look back on a decade of improvement in standards,
but it must also reflect on its future role. Having achieved widespread
acceptance and respect amongst parents, schools and the Government,
what next for Ofsted?
18. This report comes at an important time for
Ofsted. Our aim is to scrutinise the growing role of the inspectorate
as it expands into new areas; to judge whether Ofsted is the appropriate
body to undertake the inspection of these sectors, and to comment
on its approach from the evidence we have been given. We are also
concerned to monitor the implementation of Ofsted's recent strategic
proposals, both in children's services and in school inspection
and reporting, which has been its core work for over a decade.
Ofsted must now ensure consistency of judgement across many different
types of institutions catering for a variety of age groups. It
must also show that its inspections are making a significant contribution
to improvement in the settings it inspects and thus demonstrate
value for money.
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