Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Kyle Excerpts
Monday 17th December 2018

(5 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Damian Hinds Portrait Damian Hinds
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Indeed. Schools, and education more broadly, are a unique case in our national life because they are all about bringing up the next generation and social mobility, and ensuring that our economy works at its full productive potential.

Peter Kyle Portrait Peter Kyle (Hove) (Lab)
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Ofsted has proved to be one of the most effective regulators in the country, but with cuts of almost 50%, inspections are too short and inspection teams are too small, and many schools simply do not get the inspections they need—some should require improvement or be in special measures and are not; and some good schools should be outstanding but are not. Will the Secretary of State commit to putting more resource into Ofsted so that parents can have faith that their schools are delivering for their students?

Damian Hinds Portrait Damian Hinds
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I have faith in the Ofsted system, which is an incredibly important part of our system alongside performance measures and so on. It is a vital part of what parents use to select their school. The new Ofsted framework, which is due to come in next year, is a further opportunity to develop that, but we want a proportionate system.