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Former Speaker Michael Martin failed to “take control” and prevent police from searching the Commons office of senior Tory MP Damian Green, a report says. The Commons privilege committee found communication among parliamentary officials ahead of the November 2008 search had been “seriously inadequate”. Police were given access to Mr Green’s office without a search warrant. This was part of a Scotland Yard inquiry into Home Office leaks after which Mr Green faced no charges. The MP, who always denied any wrong-doing, was arrested and held by the Metropolitan Police for nine hours on 27 November 2008. His offices in Kent and in the Houses of Parliament and his home were also searched. ‘No excuse’ In its report, the committee criticised Metropolitan Police for their “failure” to “expressly advise” a Commons official, Serjeant-at-Arms Jill Pay, that she could refuse them access without a warrant. Ms Pay granted officers entry after discussions with Mr Martin and Clerk of the House Malcolm Jack. There was “no excuse not to observe proper procedure”, the report said. It added that a “seriously inadequate communication” between Mr Martin, Ms Pay and Mr Jack had resulted in “complete misunderstanding about the proper process for allowing a search of a Member’s office”. It said: “While the House and its Speaker could and should no doubt have been better served by their officials, the Speaker himself should have been asking the right questions and he should have taken more responsibility for exercising the authority of his high office.” The committee also said: “Mr Speaker Martin failed to exercise the ultimate responsibility, which was his alone, to take control and not merely to be kept informed.” It found arrest of Mr Green – the shadow immigration minister and MP for Ashford in Kent – had “disproportionate”. The Home Office was criticised for allowing an “exaggerated impression” of the damage caused by the leaks to Mr Green by an official at the department. The Cabinet Office – which oversees the running of government – had acted in an “ill-judged” way by giving police the idea that national security could be affected by the leaks, it added. The report said this was “hyperbolic and unhelpful”. ‘Rigour’ In April last year, it was announced Mr Green – who denied any wrong-doing throughout – would not face any charges. The report said the Metropolitan Police had failed to show “sufficient rigour” and the conclusion not to prosecute “could have been reached six months earlier”. Home Office worker Christopher Galley, who passed on the information to Mr Green, was also not prosecuted but lost his job. The leaks, passed on to the press, involved a number of subjects including immigration and crime figures. The committee, led by former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, said the “impact of leaks on the conduct of government business is not, and can never be, a sufficiently weighty reason in itself to justify a police investigation”. However, it praised Mr Martin’s decision, in December 2008, to ensure that any future police search on parliamentary property could only be carried out with a search warrant from a judge. Mr Martin – now Lord Martin of Springburn – stood down as Speaker last year following criticism of his handling of the issue of MPs’ expenses.
March 22, 2010 | Posted in
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More schools are being judged inadequate under a new inspection regime, figures from England’s schools watchdog are expected to show. Ofsted introduced a new framework in September 2009 which requires schools to achieve higher results to be rated as good or outstanding. The watchdog has insisted its new-style inspections would “raise the bar” on its expectations of schools. Data on schools’ performance under the system will be released on Wednesday. Last week the Times Educational Supplement said the new regime had seen a near doubling in the proportion of schools judged “inadequate”, while the proportion rated “outstanding” was less than half of what it used to be. But inspectors said they now had “higher expectations on behalf of pupils and parents”. ” It is no surprise if there is a rise in inadequate schools – it just reflects the fact that the bar has been raised ” Department for Children, Schools and Families A spokesman for Ofsted said: “We have made it clear that every time an inspection framework is revised, expectations are raised too.” Ofsted said the reaction from schools had been “overwhelmingly positive”, with nine out of 10 who had responded to feedback surveys saying they were satisfied with the way inspection was carried out. A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: “We made clear in the schools White Paper last June that inspection from September would be more challenging. “It is no surprise if there is a rise in inadequate schools – it just reflects the fact that the bar has been raised and weaker schools are being inspected earlier in the cycle.” New regime Under the new arrangements, outstanding and good schools are only inspected once within a five-year period – previously it was every three years. Satisfactory schools are inspected every three years and inadequate schools are visited regularly until they make the improvements necessary. The new regime sees inspectors assess twice as many lessons and more emphasis is put on questionnaires filled out by parents and pupils. Inspectors put more emphasis on pupil attainment – a point which has caused controversy, particularly for schools in challenging areas – rather than on improvement. Schools are given two days’ warning of an inspection and the inspections lasts for two days. Ofsted said the new format was introduced in response to teachers’ concerns inspections focused too much on schools data and inspectors did not assess enough lessons. The watchdog said more than 2,000 inspections had been carried out under the new system between September and December last year. Chris Richardson, head teacher at the Kings of Wessex School in Somerset, said the new inspection framework brought “significant improvements”, particularly a sharper focus on student achievement. “A new self-evaluation form meant we felt well prepared for inspection and it gave the inspectors a good overview of the school. “Our students valued the opportunities to engage with the inspectors and give their perspective on the school.” But John Fairhurst, head of Shenfield High School in Essex, said the new inspection framework had downgraded his school from good with outstanding features to satisfactory, simply because the school’s GCSE results in 2008 were weak. “It’s become a rather skimpy inspection with an altered agenda – heavily data driven,” he said. “The framework proved, in our case, superficial and underestimated the good work of the school.” The Association for School and College Leaders and the National Association of Head Teachers are also critical of the regime, saying it puts too much emphasis on raw attainment.
March 10, 2010 | Posted in
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