Corporate report

Ofsted Board minutes: 23 June 2020

Updated 15 July 2021

Applies to England

Present

Julius Weinberg (Chair)
Hamid Patel
Amanda Spielman (HMCI)
Pamela Scriven
Kathryn August
Martin Spencer
John Cridland
Carole Stott
John Hughes
Venessa Willms
Julie Kirkbride
Laura Wyld

Apologies

None

Also in attendance

Matthew Coffey (Chief Operating Officer)
Sean Harford (National Director, Education)
Yvette Stanley (National Director, Social Care)
Chris Jones (Director, Corporate Strategy)
Louise Grainger (Director, Finance, Planning and Commercial)
Emily Williams (Deputy Director Strategy, Governance and Private Office)
Bradley Simmons (Regional Director, South West – item 4)
Matt Terry (Corporate Governance Manager)
Kate Dixon (Department for Education - observer)

Status

Approved. Submitted for approval at the Board meeting on 30 October 2020.

Welcome, apologies and declarations of interest

The Chair welcomed all attendees. No new interest were declared.

Minutes, matters arising, action log and forward look

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed without amendment.

The Board noted that a replacement for the current Chair, whose term ends in July, had yet to be announced by the Department for Education (DfE).

Update from Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI)

HMCI presented her update. The Board noted that:

• Increasing numbers of redeployed staff are beginning to return to their roles at Ofsted as we increase our regulatory activity and look ahead to returning to a form of business as usual (BAU) in September.

• Planning to re-open offices is underway, and thought is being given as to how to encourage staff to return. Specific guidance will be produced for staff members who are considered either medium or high risk in line with government guidance.

We are working with DfE to ensure that any benefits of the closer working relationship arising because of the pandemic are retained where practical.

Ongoing regulation and inspection activity

Regulatory activity in social care remains at similar levels to pre-lockdown as most of the settings that we regulate haven’t stopped working. Early years (EY) has seen a significant reduction in notifications however, with provisions closing during the peak of the pandemic.

The publication of inspection reports was postponed during lockdown. We aim to publish all reports by 30 June to enable parents to make informed decisions about their children’s schooling for the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

Update from the National Director, Social Care

The National Director, Social Care presented their update. The Board noted:

• That after a temporary suspension, IICSA re-started public hearings on 11 May. HMCI gave evidence at the Child Protection in Religious Organisations and Settings investigation.

• Discussions continue with DfE and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) about the implementation of Liberty Protection Safeguards.  

Update from the National Director, Education

The National Director, Education presented their update. The Board noted that:

• Some inspectors with capacity have been deployed to policy teams, providing extra resource on important work.

• We have been commissioned by the further education and skills (FES) sector to look at some of the work that has been done on online learning during the pandemic. Initial findings suggest that there were varying levels of quality across the sector.

• The new initial teacher education (ITE) framework has been agreed by HMCI and will be published before the end of the month.

Update from the Director, Corporate Strategy

The Director, Corporate Strategy, presented the Corporate Strategy update. The Board noted that:

• Our communications have been less frequent and more focussed on echoing central government policy.

Strategic risk register

The Board noted the strategic risks had been extensively reviewed in light of the pandemic, supporting the inclusion of the new risk around failing to plan effectively for the return to routine inspection.

Finance report

The Board noted the short financial update provided as a consequence of the pandemic. A more detailed position will be provided at the Board’s next formal meeting.

Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Annual Report

The Committee shared their annual report on their activity with the board, noting that Internal Audit completed their planned programme during 2019 to 2020 and provided a substantial opinion.

The Committee confirmed to the Board that they had reviewed the annual report and accounts (ARA), and that they were content to recommend that the Board formally advise HMCI sign to sign the document.

Annual report and accounts (ARA)

The Board noted that data for some strategic measures had proved impossible to collect due to the pandemic. Although data has been collected for the other measures these will not be published in the ARA during 2019 to 2020. Instead, following a review of the strategic metrics, they will be published in full again in 2020 to 2021. The data collected for 2019 to 2020 will be shared with the Board at their strategy session.

The Board provided some minor comments for action but, subject to their completion, were content to recommend that HMCI sign the ARA.

Any other business

No further business was raised.