Ofsted team 'lacks expertise'

Alison Mercer
Wednesday, May 9, 2001

The senior management team for Ofsted's Early Years Directorate was unveiled last week, prompting immediate concerns about a lack of expertise in daycare regulation at this level of the new organisation. Of the eight regional managers, two have been heads of inspection with experience of all aspects of daycare regulation. Two are HM inspectors in Ofsted and one is head of Ofsted's contracts division. One of the inspectors is a former early years advisor who has been establishing guidance on the new national standards for daycare, and the other a former assistant director of local authority social services and education departments. The rest are from the Inland Revenue and the Housing Corporation.