Corporate report

Ofsted Board minutes: 13 October 2021

Updated 28 July 2022

Applies to England

Present

Christine Ryan (Chair)
Pamela Scriven
Amanda Spielman (HMCI)
Martin Spencer
John Cridland
Carole Stott
Laura Wyld
Hamid Patel
Julie Kirkbride
Venessa Willms

Also in attendance

Matthew Coffey (Chief Operating Officer)
Chris Russell (National Director, Education)
Yvette Stanley (National Director, Social Care)
Louise Grainger (Director, Finance, Planning and Commercial)
Emily Williams (Deputy Director, Strategy, Governance and Private Office) (meeting item, strategy development)
Board Secretary & Corporate Governance Manager
Corporate Governance Officer
Department for Education - observer
Head of Strategy (meeting item, strategy development)

Apologies

Lesley Jones

Status

Approved at the board meeting on 8 December 2021.

Welcome, apologies and declarations of interest

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologies were noted from Lesley Jones. Peter Jackson, DfE was welcomed to the meeting as an observer. It was noted that HMCI and the National Director, Education would leave at 11:30 due to a ministerial meeting.

Martin Spencer declared that he has been appointed a civil service commissioner.

Minutes, matters arising and action log

The minutes of the June board meeting were agreed as a correct record and there were no outstanding actions.

HMCI update

HMCI provided an update on her engagements with the DfE new ministerial team.

All Ofsted remits have returned to full routine inspection and regulatory activity. Inspections are at an early stage, but as expected previously outstanding schools are often coming out as ‘good’ or ‘requires improvement’. The outcomes and post inspection survey feedback is being closely monitored and the board will be updated on the return of inspections at the next meeting.

Action: Update on the return of inspections to be provided at the next meeting.

Update from the Chief Operating Officer (COO)

It was noted that paragraph 14, page 3 in the COO update, should read that by September 2022 we are ‘aiming to inspect’ all early years providers and not ‘required to inspect’ as stated in the paper, as this is not a statutory requirement.

The COO has commissioned an Early Years Delivery Programme Board to address the EY challenge in respect of delivering inspection volumes. Several work strands are being considered including training, recruitment, and support for managers dealing with absence. A deep dive into absence rates for the regulatory inspectors (RI) workforce will also be considered by the Executive Board at its next meeting.

The return to offices is on track following further easing of national restrictions. The situation is continually being monitored and risk assessed to reflect relevant government guidance.

Audit and Risk Assurance Committee update

The chair of ARAC set out the committee’s role in providing the board with assurance around some of the issues raised during the Education Committee evidence session with the chair of the board in September.

Reputational risks are managed and tracked through the operational and strategic risk registers. The monitoring of performance against strategic priorities is a responsibility of the board and a strategic metrics working group has been established to inform development of suitable strategic performance metrics.

ARAC’s terms of reference does not include delegated responsibilities relating to EDI.

Action: The board agreed that equality, diversity and inclusion issues should be covered in relevant board updates and a periodic update to be scheduled.

Chair update – Education Select Committee (ESC)

The Chair appeared before the ESC on 14 September, at which a request for further information was made by the Chair of the ESC. A draft letter in response to the ESC request was considered by the board.

The board discussed a range of issues arising from the ESC meeting, including inspecting teaching of protected characteristics, the inspection and reporting of RE in state schools, off-rolling, and Ofsted accountability.

Action: Written response to ESC - Board members to provide suggestions for amendments to the Chair by email as soon as possible.

Proposals for a review of Ofsted’s Corporate Governance Framework was discussed. The most recent review was in 2020 and a board effectiveness review is due to commence in autumn 2021. Board members considered in detail the rationale, scope and timing of a potential review.

Strategy development

The board reviewed the draft strategic priorities and provided feedback, including that:

• The strategic priorities should be more specific and less generic
• ‘Accountable’ should remain a core value
• Further education and skills work should be more visible
• ‘Keeping children safe’ should be higher on the list of priorities

Action: Board members to send any further feedback on the draft strategic priorities to the chair of the strategic metrics working group by email.

Action: A meeting of the group will be convened to consider written feedback from board members. This will inform the next iteration of the strategy which will circulated to the board in November by correspondence for review and comment.

Action: The board meeting on 8 December will be extended to allow more time to discuss the strategy.

Education directorate update

The Education update was noted.

Regulation and social care directorate update

The Regulation and social care update was noted.

Strategic risk register

The board noted the changes to the strategic risk register since its last meeting.

Finance update

The board was briefed on the spending review bids, which have been submitted.

AOB

Following a survey of board members on the format of meetings in 2022, it was agreed that scheduled board meetings would alternate between in person and meetings via Teams. Other meetings, such as strategy away days or similar, will usually be held in person.