§ Mr. StrawTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out in detail the procedures for the forthcoming appointment of a new holder of the office of Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools, including the nature of the involvement of Ministers in the appointment.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to his reply, 4 March 1991, c. 42]: Before proceeding with the choice of a permanent successor to the present senior chief inspector I wish to carry out a thorough internal review of the structure and role of Her Majesty's inspectorate. I see this review as a necessary consequence of my decision to remove further education and sixth-form colleges from local education control and of the decisions of a growing 472W number of maintained schools to opt out from local authority control. I will explore all possible options for an inspectorate capable of delivering an effective system of quality control based on inspection for the evolving pattern of educational provision. The outcome could well be a very different job description for the head of the inspectorate. I have asked therefore the Civil Service Commissioners to take no further action with the open competition they have been organising to identify a new senior chief inspector. In the meantime it is important that HM inspectorate should be under sound and strong leadership when the present SCI retires at the end of August. I am therefore appointing an internal candidate as 473W SCI who will be well able to carry out the functions of the post until the review is complete and a new appointment can be made following a public competition.