§ Mr. Hoban:To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what initiatives the Department has introduced to improve (a) leadership and (b) management skills in schools; and what assessment he has made of their effectiveness. [141952]
§ Mr. Miliband[holding answer 4 December 2003]We set up the National College for School Leadership in November 2000 to deliver a wide range of professional development and leadership training opportunities for headteachers, aspiring headteachers and other school leaders at every stage of their careers, including middle managers. Ofsted regularly inspects the effectiveness of school leadership and management and from September this year introduced a new framework for inspecting these skills more rigorously. In June this year Ofsted reported that the proportion of schools with very good or excellent leadership and management has more than doubled since 1996–97. In his statement to this House on 29 October about school funding, the Secretary of State announced that KPMG had been commissioned to work with NCSL and headteacher associations to design and develop a varied menu of support and guidance to help schools' budget and resource management. In the remaining months of the current financial year £1.5 million is being made available for this programme which includes a website, workshop, helpdesk and consultancy.