§ Mr. Gibsonasked the Minister of Education whether he will arrange that boards of school governors of secondary schools shall be supplied, confidentially, with a duplicated copy of the report of an inspection of their school by His Majesty's Inspectors of Education, pending the printing and publication of the inspector's report, in order that the school governors may be able to deal effectively with the recommendations in the inspector's report.
§ Mr. TomlinsonI am constantly striving to reduce the interval between H.M. Inspectors' visits to a school and the issue of the printed report (which, incidentally, is not published) and I have taken steps which should lead to a significant reduction in the time lag. A duplicated advance copy could not be produced much earlier; more manpower would be needed and the printed report would be still further delayed. It is, however, a common practice for H.M. Inspectors to discuss the school frankly and confidentially with the governors and the head at the close of the inspection, and I hope that governors will not hesitate to take action on H.M. Inspectors' recommendations without waiting for the confirmation of the printed report.