§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when the Government set up an official inquiry into the administrative burden on schools; when she expects it to report; who was on the official inquiry; what were its terms of reference; what was the cost of setting up the inquiry; and when she expects to act on the areas for action which the inquiry team highlights. [15617]
§ Mr. Robin SquireMy right hon. Friend commissioned the efficiency scrutiny into the administrative burden on schools in December 1994. The report was published on 31 July 1995.
There were four full-time members of the scrutiny team, who were departmental officials, and three part-time members; two head teachers and one Her Majesty's inspector.
The terms of reference were:
To report on, and make recommendations about, the scope to reduce and minimise the burden of bureaucracy on schools. In particular to consider:the cumulative administrative burden of all communication with schools by Government and related bodies;likely future trends in this burden given current policies;the potential benefits for reducing administrative burdens of action to improve internal control mechanisms;370Wthe scope for improving the nature, format and timing of communications with schools by DFE and other centrally sponsored bodies so as to minimise the administrative burden.The cost of the scrutiny was £100,000. Copies of the report are in the Library.
Action in response to most of the recommendations is already in progress. The Department has established a "Gatekeeper" team to control and reduce the overall flow of communications from the DFEE and related bodies to schools. The team has issued—to DFEE staff and others—guidance on communicating with schools, and has set up an advisory group of heads, teachers and governors to give "customer feedback" on DFEE communications.