Christine Gilbert had a glimpse this week of what it’s like to be berated for poor performance and to have your apparent failings dissected by what were once known as Fleet Street’s finest.
Ofsted’s chief inspector was no doubt hoping the headlines would focus on the criticisms of teachers and social workers contained in the watchdog’s annual report. Instead, it was a case of the biter bit.
The culprits were many and various. The Local Government Association, teaching unions, academics, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, the chair of the schools select committee and former chief inspectors were all quoted at length.
And their bile knew no bounds. Ofsted was obsessed with ‘protecting its own reputation’, its inspection regime was ‘not fit for purpose’ and it was too reliant on ‘tick-box’ systems.
Gilbert did snap back, categorising her attackers as having ‘vested interests’, but the damage was done. For Ofsted it was the culmination of a terrible year, in which it was heavily criticised for its role in the Baby Peter case.
Clearly, there have been problems. Ofsted has grown like Topsy. It had a difficult enough job inspecting schools and colleges. Now it has responsibility for children’s social care as well.
Perhaps this is too much for one inspectorate to handle, and there should be some rationalisation. But the job has to be done, whether by Ofsted or another regulator.
As former government adviser Conor Ryan writes in his PF blog (opinion.publicfinance.co.uk), there is a danger of shooting the messenger. Ofsted might have made mistakes, but it acts ‘without fear or favour’ and highlights failings in government as well as schools and councils.
Watchdogs appear to be fair game in the current hunt for spending cuts. If the Tories come to power next year, they will inevitably undertake a ‘bonfire of the quangos’.
The party has already confirmed that it will abolish Comprehensive Area Assessments, the Audit Commission’s new approach to local inspection. In housing, the Tenant Services Authority and the Homes and Communities Agency also face the Tory axe (see news story on page 12). Other regulators will understandably be looking over their shoulders.
Damned as bureaucrats and red-tape merchants, they would be easy targets for cuts. But what happens when something goes wrong that could easily have been spotted for want of an inspector?
Politicians should beware the watchdog that doesn’t bark.
Mike Thatcher is the editor of Public Finance
