INSPECTION OF INSTITUTIONS TRAINING TEACHERS FOR SCHOOLS (Hansard, 8 June 1998)

§ Mr. Don Foster (Bath)
I beg to move amendment No. 3, in page 13, line 8, after 'appropriate', insert 'following consultation with the relevant institutions on the contents of any such reports, oral and written'.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 39, in page 13, line 10, at end insert— '(c) carry out an inspection at a relevant institution no more than once in a period of four years, unless at the request of a relevant institution.'. No. 5, in page 13, line 23, leave out from 'which' to 'under' in line 24 and insert 'is relevant to the inspection'. Government amendment No. 98.

§ Mr. Foster
I shall be brief, as time is limited. I must make clear that Liberal Democrat Members have no objection to the principle of inspection of initial teacher training provision by the Office for Standards in Education. Our three amendments enable us to raise some of our concerns about the practice of such inspections. Perhaps I should quickly declare an interest, Mr. Deputy Speaker, in that my wife is an initial teacher trainer, as I used to be, and in the past couple of years has spent many hundreds of hours preparing for and being involved in Ofsted inspections at her university.
It is vital that inspections should not only provide information that helps to raise standards in teacher training, but that they should not place undue and 752 unnecessary burdens on the institutions, to the detriment of their work with students. To that end, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals and Ofsted have already established, with various other bodies, a joint working party to develop a draft protocol for inspections. That protocol, with the various guidelines on procedures for inspections, is likely to be published in the summer and will cover many matters, including the minimum period of notice for inspections, advance publication of the inspection methodology and a complaints procedure.
The House should be aware that the protocol will not be binding on Her Majesty's chief inspector, so we argue that it is important that some of the matters that are likely to be in the protocol are reflected in the Bill. That is why we have tabled the amendments, the first of which would ensure consultation with the relevant institutions before the final report was published. The report is crucial to the initial teacher training institutions since their quality grading—and hence their student allocations—are based on it. If the amendment is accepted it will ensure that there is, for example, an opportunity to correct factual errors and to ensure consistency between the oral feedback and the eventual report.
Amendment No. 39 would limit the frequency of inspections to once every four years—even that would be more frequent than school inspections. The present frequency of inspections gives great cause for concern, not only for the initial teacher training institutions but for their partner schools, which also receive inspection visits to watch students on placement. In my wife's institution, for example, more than one third of the current year has been taken up by Ofsted inspections. Such a high frequency causes enormous difficulties and creates significant costs. Important though inspections are, they should not become a huge administrative and financial burden, causing institutions to feel that they are on a permanent treadmill, hence the suggestion of a once-in-four-years cycle.
Amendment No. 5 would ensure that the records and documents inspected and copied by Ofsted are only those relevant to the inspection in question. Universities are right to be concerned that Ofsted should not have a completely free hand to rummage around wherever it pleases without the university even having the right to query HMI's consideration of what is relevant.
Inspection is important if it helps to ensure that the standards of initial teacher training are raised; the amendments would help to do just that.

§ Mr. Byers
In the brief time available I shall try to deal with the matters raised by the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) and speak to Government amendment No. 98, which would ensure that the independent inspectorate, Ofsted, had a right not merely to inspect teacher training, which is defined in clause 20, but to extend it to cover a teacher serving an induction period. It is not clear at present that Ofsted would have that power.
I am fully aware of the concerns of the hon. Member for Bath about these matters. He is a one-man campaign to hold Ofsted accountable and Her Majesty's chief inspector individually responsible for the various actions of that body. However, I am not convinced that his amendments would achieve his objective. The Government's view is that the joint working group that has been established between Ofsted and the CVCP to 753 draw up a protocol to take forward these matters is the best way forward. Amendment No. 3 would add an extra, unnecessary layer of bureaucracy to the process for inspecting teacher training institutions.

§ Mr. Andrew Welsh (Angus)
The Government are introducing an eight-week period of notice before an inspection of English teacher training institutions. Do they intend to introduce a similar period of notice in Scotland? If not, can the Minister explain why not and state what period of notice will be given in Scotland?

§ Mr. Byers
I am sure that, as a Scottish Member, the hon. Gentleman would not want an English Minister to decide those matters—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman is a member of the Scottish National party and that is why I made that point. As a Scottish Member he will, no doubt, want to raise that matter with the Scottish Office, which has responsibility for it.
The amendments are not appropriate and I ask the House to resist them.

§ Mr. Don Foster
In the brief time available could the Minister at least give the House an absolute assurance that, once developed, the protocol will be expected to be observed by HMCI and the inspectors?

§ Mr. Byers
rose—

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker
Order.