Controversial ex-Ofsted chief warns against ‘vilifying’ public bodies

A former Ofsted chief inspector, who led the watchdog when a headteacher took her own life, has warned against “casually vilifying” public bodies.

In her maiden speech in the House of Lords, Baroness Amanda Spielman said it can be “easy” to label those having to make difficult decisions as “soulless and unfair”.

The new Conservative peer also used her speech to say she finds it “worrying when the interests of children are subordinated to those of adults”.

Lady Spielman was Ofsted chief inspector when Ruth Perry died in 2023 after a report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading, Berkshire, from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns.

An inquest into the headteacher’s death found the inspection was a contributory factor.

Ofsted’s response to the tragedy was subsequently criticised as “defensive and complacent” by an independent review.

Professor Julia Waters, Ms Perry’s sister, said the ex-head of Ofsted being “rewarded” with a peerage was “a disgrace and an insult” to her sibling’s memory.

Lady Spielman made her first speech in the Lords during the second reading of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, which aims to crack down on fraud against the public purse.

The former watchdog chief said: “Among the millions of decisions made by public authorities, there will always be difficult and borderline cases.

“Where, say, a claim in such a case is properly refused, it can be easy for a disappointed claimant to paint the public body and the individual decision-makers as soulless and unfair.

“And yet that authority and its staff should not be casually vilified.

“True fairness of all citizens, young and old, and maintaining that all important social contract, depends on those people having the skills and the confidence to make those difficult calls, humanely but without partiality.”

Lady Spielman, who led Ofsted for seven years, said they made an inspection model “based on professional dialogue, grounded in evidence and emphasising educational substance and integrity”.

She said: “Ofsted does sometimes have to report findings that are profoundly uncomfortable for those whose failings are exposed.

“Incompetence is one dimension and ethical slippage is the other.

“And I use that term because fraud, which is the main focus of this Bill, sits at one end of an ethical spectrum.

“Some behaviour can be considered unethical to a greater or lesser extent.

“For example, it’s worrying when the interests of children are subordinated to those of adults, contrary to the principles that underlie the policies of successive governments.

“It isn’t criminal, but it can harm children.”

The Government announced last year that headline Ofsted grades for overall effectiveness for schools in England would be scrapped following Ms Perry’s death.

Previously, the watchdog awarded one of four single-phrase inspection judgements: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.

In February, Ofsted launched a consultation on its plans to introduce a report card system for grading schools in England.

However, critics, including Prof Waters, have urged for a delay, warning of “real concerns” the proposals could drive “excessive pressure, ill-health and stress for the profession”.

In March, Lady Spielman publicly criticised Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and her proposed school reforms that would curb the freedoms of academies.

She said the legislation was likely to make education in England worse, and accused Ms Phillipson of being “influenced” by the unions.

Lady Spielman was rebuked at the time by a Government source, who claimed she should “spend less time criticising the reforms this Government is bringing, and more time reflecting on her failure at Ofsted”.