115.Section 73 provides for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales to be renamed Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (Prif Arolygydd Ei Mawrhydi dros Addysg a Hyfforddiant yng Nghymru), and for HM Inspectors of Schools in Wales to be renamed Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education and Training in Wales (Arolgwyr Ei Mawrhydi dros Addysg a Hyfforddiant yng Nghymru).
116.Section 75 extends the existing remit of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales (Estyn) to enable her to inspect post-16 education and training provision funded by the CETW or an LEA, or where the CETW or LEA are contemplating giving the provider financial support. The National Assembly may add other types of education and training to the remit of Estyn by making regulations.
117.Section 76sets out the function of the Chief Inspector for Wales to inform the National Assembly of the quality of provision, standards achieved and whether the financial resources made available to providers of education and training are being managed efficiently and in a way which provides value for money. When requested by the National Assembly, the Chief Inspector must arrange for the inspection of provision in her remit, give advice to the National Assembly and report the results of inspections. In relation to this function, the Chief Inspector must have regard to such aspects of the National Assembly’s policy as it may specify. The National Assembly also has the power to extend the Chief Inspector’s remit.
118.Section 77 provides that the Chief Inspector for Wales must secure inspections at intervals as may be specified by the National Assembly and must provide a written report on the quality of provision inspected, the standards achieved by those receiving post-16 education and training and whether the financial resources that are available to the provider are managed efficiently The report must be made available within the period prescribed by the National Assembly and copied to: the National Assembly; the CETW; any local education authority providing funds for the education or training inspected and; the provider of the education or training. In addition, the Chief Inspector may copy the report to any other person she thinks appropriate.
119.Section 78 provides a general power for the Chief Inspector for Wales to advise the National Assembly on issues within her extended remit. It also empowers the Chief Inspector to inspect and report on any post-16 education and training on her own initiative. Where she does so, she must provide a copy of any report to: the National Assembly; the CETW; any local education authority providing funds for the education or training which was inspected; and the provider of the education or training. Section 78 also enables the Chief Inspector, in response to a request from a provider, to inspect and publish a report on post -16 education and training which is not funded by the Council or by an LEA.
120.Section 79 provides that the Chief Inspector for Wales will have a reasonable right of access to the premises of the providers being inspected, including access to electronic information held on computers. The Chief Inspector will also be able to take copies of any records and documents relating to the provision being inspected. Obstruction of the Chief Inspector will be an offence, and anyone found guilty is liable to a fine as described in subsection (7).
121.Section 80 requires a provider of education or training to prepare an action plan following the publication of an inspection report, indicating the actions and the timing of actions the provider proposes in the light of the findings within the report. There is a regulation-making power for the National Assembly to govern publication and dissemination of the plans. Where the inspection is an inspection of provision not funded by the Council or an LEA, but is carried out at the request of a provider, the requirement for an action plan does not apply. If the inspection is an area inspection, section 84 applies.
122.Section 81 enables the Chief Inspector for Wales, if requested by the National Assembly, to inspect education, training or advisory services provided by the Careers Services companies in Wales.
123.Section 82enables the Chief Inspector for Wales, at the request of the Secretary of State or the Adult Learning Inspectorate in England, to inspect and report on education and training provision in Wales made in accordance with arrangements made under section 2 of the Employment and Training Act 1973. This will include, for example, education and training provision made under the New Deal.
124.Section 83 makes provision for area inspections. The National Assembly has a power to ask the Chief Inspector to conduct an inspection in specified area of Wales. The Chief Inspector also has a power to undertake such inspections on her own initiative. The CETW, any LEA and providers in the area, must give the Chief Inspector relevant information when reasonably requested to do so, and the Chief Inspector has a duty to issue reports on the area inspections made. The area inspection may be extended to consider the manner in which financial resources have been applied by the CETW or an LEA and whether value for money has been attained. The National Assembly may make further provision in relation to the provision of information.
125.Section 84 empowers the National Assembly to direct the CETW or a local education authority to prepare a written statement of the action it proposes to take in light of an area inspection report published by the Chief Inspector. The statement must set out by when the action proposed is to be taken. In preparing the statement, the CETW or LEA must consult such persons as the National Assembly may direct. The statement must be published at a specified time and in a specified manner and copied to such persons as are prescribed by the Assembly.
126.Section 85provides for the National Assembly to direct the Chief Inspector for Wales to conduct all-Wales surveys or surveys of specified areas in Wales, on matters relating to policy concerned with post-16 education and training, or comparative studies outside Wales. The Chief Inspector will have a power to conduct such surveys without being directed to by the National Assembly.
127.Section 86makes provision for the Chief Inspector for Wales to prepare and present an annual report to the National Assembly. It also enables the Chief Inspector to prepare and publish such other reports on post-16 education and training provision as the Chief Inspector considers appropriate.
128.Section 87 requires the Chief Inspector for Wales to prepare a plan for each financial year and submit the plan to the National Assembly, before the beginning of the financial year to which it relates. The plan must contain estimates of expenditure to secure that the functions of the Chief Inspector are discharged effectively, and estimates of income which may be applied towards meeting the expenses of the Chief Inspector. The plan must also contain proposals for the management of funds made available by the Assembly. Schedule 9 amends section 104 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 to require the National Assembly, before deciding on the funding it will provide to the Chief Inspector in the forthcoming financial year, to take into account her estimates of her funding requirements and expected income for that year.
129.The Chief Inspector’s annual plan must be approved by the National Assembly. Once it is approved, the Assembly must also determine the amount of funding it is to provide in accordance with the plan. However, before approval is given the National Assembly may require the Chief Inspector to modify the plan. Once the National Assembly’s approval has been given, the Chief Inspector has the power to publish the plan in whatever form she thinks fit.
130.Section 88gives the same qualified privilege to reports under Part IV as section 72 gives to reports under Part III.
Commentary on Sections Part IV - Inspections in Wales Sections 73 to 88