§ 1. Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the (a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) average period of time between the end of Her Majesty's inspectors visits to a school or group of schools and the publication of their report.
§ The Secretary of State for Education and Science (Sir Keith Joseph)Her Majesty's inspectors report orally at the end of their inspections to the head and, usually, to the governors shortly afterwards. Their written reports are now normally published between one and two terms after the inspection.
§ Mr. FisherIs the Secretary of State aware that some reports have not been published for as long as two years after the initial visit? Does he agree that that is far too long? Is the delay due to slowness in drafting, slow approval by the Department, or slow printing? What steps will the Secretary of State take to change the situation? Does he agree that if schools implement a report's recommendations quickly they can find themselves in the impossible position, when the report comes, out of being criticised for faults which they have already put right?
§ Sir Keith JosephYes, for every reason, the sooner the report is published the better. The long delays were due to teething troubles at the beginning of the publication process. The time taken generally involves the gathering together to complete their report of the inspectors, who are quickly engaged on other inspections. There is no particular problem about inspecting or printing now, and the average time taken is about six months.
§ Mr. DickensIs my right hon. Friend taking any steps to speed up the process, because most people believe that the time between the inspection and the publication of the report is too long?
§ Sir Keith JosephAs I tried to explain, the process has been remarkably speeded up and now takes on average only about six months. Taking into account the business of the inspectors who have to gather together to agree their report while doing other inspections, I think that the time taken is quite commendable.
§ Mr. Andrew F. BennettWe are delighted that the reports are being published, but we press the Government 792 to try to speed up the time taken. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is a little demoralising for a school and its governors when, having received a verbal report and having started to put things right, out comes a report which implies that the school is still failing to meet the standards that everyone would like it to meet?
§ Sir Keith JosephI entirely agree, but I am not sure whether it will be practical to make the time much shorter than the present average.
§ Mr. PawseyCan my right hon. Friend tell the House what he believes to be the principal benefits of publishing reports? What lessons does he think have been learnt by the Department from their publication?
§ Sir Keith JosephIt is not so much that the Department has learnt, because Ministers have always read the reports, but that the schools concerned have benefited. The purpose is to encourage the local education authorities, which are taking the reports seriously, not only to apply the lessons learnt in the school inspected, but to generalise from that in relation to all the schools in an area. I hope that more of them are taking this seriously.