The education secretary has been accused of a “failure of leadership” and “undermining” Ofsted’s chief inspector during a TV interview.
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott (pictured, left) has written to Lucy Powell to express “deep concern” about what she described as a “lack of public support” for Ofsted chief Sir Martyn Oliver.
In the TV interview with Sky News, Ms Powell was questioned repeatedly on whether she had confidence in Sir Martyn’s leadership in response to union concerns.
She said she had confidence in Ofsted but did not explicitly express confidence in the chief inspector.
The Conservatives have now criticised the education secretary’s comments, but a spokesperson for Ms Powell has insisted that “she was clear [in the interview] that she had confidence in Ofsted and the chief inspector”.
Unrest over Ofsted
The inspectorate has come under increased pressure from the sector to introduce further reforms to its inspection framework, with Ms Powell herself calling for changes to how Ofsted looks at a school’s context and inclusion.
During the interview, when pressed about whether Sir Martyn was the right person to lead Ofsted, Ms Powell replied: “Martyn is the HMCI. He’s going to carry on being the HMCI. The important thing here is that we get the what and the how right.”
Ms Powell said she did not want to get rid of the inspection framework but said that changes were needed. She added: “I want us to really appreciate inclusion where schools are being a lot more inclusive. That’s not often measured”.
This concern comes despite Ofsted grading schools on inclusion for the first time under the current inspection framework.
Ms Powell added: “Having an Ofsted judgement, that’s not going anywhere. Having Ofsted, that’s not going anywhere. But I’ve been really clear that I do want to see some changes, and I’m working with Ofsted, with Sir Martyn, on what those changes will look like.”
When it was suggested to her that this sounded like she did have confidence in his leadership, Ms Powell replied: “Yeah, look, he’s independent of me anyway,” adding: “I’ve got confidence in Ofsted.”
She made her comments after the chief inspector announced reforms to the inspectorate’s complaints system last week.
Trott: Sir Martyn is ‘doing his best’
In her letter to the education secretary, Ms Trott writes: “Sir Martyn is doing his best to implement the new inspection framework at the government’s behest.”
She adds that the watchdog’s current inspection system was based on plans proposed in the Labour Party’s 2024 election manifesto.
In its , Labour promised to end single-word Ofsted judgements and bring in report cards, with annual checks on safeguarding and attendance.
“For a chief inspector to be undermined in this way, when he is implementing your government’s policy, is a failure of leadership,” Ms Trott says.
Powell urged to set out full Ofsted plans
The shadow education secretary further says that the chief inspector “needs the support of the department to do his job properly”.
“After the unhappy legacy of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, during which numerous highly esteemed public servants were thrown under the bus, I had hoped that the government had learned from those mistakes,” Ms Trott writes.
“However, it seems that Andy Burnham’s cabinet is determined to continue down the same irresponsible path.”
She asks the education secretary to provide a “clear statement of confidence” in the chief inspector.
Ms Trott also requests that Ms Powell sets out her full plans for Ofsted reform in the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity.
