Education Bill

My Lords, I welcome the affirmative resolution procedure introduced by Amendment 74, which will mean that Parliament will have to consider any further proposals by the Government to change and particularly to extend the exemption from inspections for any other categories of school. That is a bottom-line issue and I am pleased to see that the Government have brought forward those amendments. However, and we will go on to debate this in the next group, the principle of exempting any public service from the possibility of inspection in the future is a principle that we cannot support. Risk assessment and proportionality is one thing—for a long time it has been the approach adopted by Ofsted and supported, as it has developed, by successive Ministers including myself and my predecessors in the previous Government —but exemption, potentially for ever, even for a school judged to be outstanding is quite another. Do the Government intend to exempt, for example, excellent hospitals from further inspections? What about excellent nursing homes or care homes for the elderly? I suspect not, because the Health Secretary announced today increases in the inspection of hospitals, including no-notice inspections of which I entirely approve and think there should be more of in relation to schools as well. I note in the Minister’s response to the Committee in his letter to me, which my noble friend Lady Morgan has outlined, the actions that he has agreed Ofsted will take in relation to outstanding schools if this measure is approved. They will try to minimise the dangers—there are dangers, not just to safeguarding but to educational standards—that could arise from the government decision wholly to exempt such schools from inspection. I ask the Minister—I think this is crucial—why the exemption measure is necessary. It is perfectly possible to retain the possibility of inspection for outstanding schools but change the risk-based proportionate approach if they wish, as the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, has outlined. It is not necessary to exempt those schools to move to a lighter-touch or even a more risk-based approach to inspection. It is a fallacy to imply, as the Minister did, that it is necessary to exempt outstanding schools from inspection in order to introduce the different approach that he proposes. The issue here is not about exemption or not; it is not necessary to exempt in order to have a different approach. This is about message, and it is a very unfortunate message. It is the wrong message to send to schools, children and parents that an outstanding school will be exempt from further inspection, full stop. This will mean that some schools will not ever, or not for many years—unless they are picked up in this lighter-touch proportionate approach—see an inspector. I ask the House: are noble Lords happy with that? If I were a parent, I would not be happy with it, and I do not think parents will be happy with it. It is the wrong message. We should keep all schools in the inspection framework. Yes, we should have a lighter touch for those that are doing well, but we should not exempt them completely. This is completely the wrong way to go.