Debate contribution: Education Inspections Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on 1 June 2026.

MLA

Mr Paul Givan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

1 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Education Inspections Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5581047

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to open the Second Stage debate on this critical Bill. It has been a long time coming. Indeed, I first submitted an inspection paper to the Executive as far back as November 2024, and, as far back as December 2023, the independent review of education recommended that it should be an offence to wilfully obstruct any person authorised to make an inspection. As those recommendations aligned fully with established arrangements in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland and followed a decade of disruption to school inspections, I assumed that they would not be politically contentious. Given that the arrangements would simply bring education into line with basic standards of oversight that we expect elsewhere in society, I hoped that the Bill could be passed in relatively short order. Clearly, the trade unions seek leverage in industrial relations negotiations, and they would be reluctant to undermine their position, but that is not a position that could credibly be supported by any elected representative. If there has been a clamour to make inspection of nursing homes or prisons a voluntary process, I must have missed it. Surely the safeguarding of our children and the quality of their education is at least as important as other walks of life that are subject to inspection. The first draft of the Bill included provisions that made obstruction of inspection an offence, as in other jurisdictions. That was not, as some suggest, an attempt to criminalise teachers any more than a 30 mph sign is an attempt to criminalise motorists; it is to reflect the fact that inspection is not a voluntary process. The number of prosecutions in the history of the same provisions in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland: zero. What that tells us is important. The law is not there to punish; it is there to set a clear expectation. Instead, their inspectors continued to inspect schools and identify safeguarding issues and schools that needed improvement whilst the quality of our children's education was left to chance. However, we operate in a system where political consensus must be achieved for legislation to progress, so I was prepared to look again at the arrangements. As a result, I brought proposals in which there would be no prosecution, but non-cooperation would constitute unacceptable professional conduct. While unique in these islands as a possible way forward, I was grateful that that approach commanded unanimous support from my Executive colleagues and was agreed for introduction. I want to put on record my appreciation of their support at the Executive.

I was therefore more than a little surprised to read on social media that Sinn Féin, having sought the changes that I brought forward and endorsed the legislation at the Executive, intends to oppose that same legislation.

I know that it is sometimes said that Sinn Féin has one policy north of the border and another in the South, but holding two conflicting policies in Northern Ireland at the same time has to be a first. Perhaps Sinn Féin intends to fight the next election in the Republic on a platform of repealing inspection legislation in the South; that would be consistent. I can see that party's slogan for the safeguarding of children: "See no evil, hear no evil". Turning a blind eye to failing schools and prioritising the interests of adults over children is a reprehensible policy that is only made worse by Sinn Féin now posing as the defenders of teachers and opposing a Bill that it previously endorsed. Is it any wonder that Sinn Féin wants to subcontract plans for a united Ireland to a citizens' assembly, given that it cannot even establish a consistent policy on inspection? How stupid do the Sinn Féin Members think teachers are? The Bill is one of the most important opportunities that we have in the mandate to make a lasting difference to education. It is a direct result of the actions short of strike over the past decade. My officials have set out the need for legislation clearly and consistently at the Education Committee. I regret the fact that legislation is, clearly, the only way to address the matter. All efforts at negotiation to have inspection excluded from action short of strike have been unsuccessful, including in January 2025, when there were no outstanding areas of disagreement between the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) and the Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC). At a time when the new model of inspection had been widely welcomed by stakeholders, inspection was included in action short of strike. If one union includes inspection, we have seen time and time again that the others are under pressure immediately to do likewise; otherwise, in a competitive market, they lose members. The trade union response to the inspection consultation clearly stated that they objected to any proposal to remove inspection from the arena of industrial action. That now seems to be Sinn Féin's position as well. My Department's efforts to reach a negotiated agreement have met with silence from the trade unions. A draft agreement prepared back in November 2025 remains unsigned and unanswered. Quite simply, in any scenario other than with this legislation, the refusal to participate in inspections will remain a feature of our education system. As in every other jurisdiction across the British Isles, the proposed separate statutory requirement is the only realistic and effective solution. We need a legal framework for inspection that guarantees consistent, independent oversight of educational quality, child protection and safeguarding that is fit for purpose and practicable. That is not just my view; it is the view of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO), which highlighted the significant cumulative impact of action short of strike. Until action short of strike was suspended last year, three quarters of ETI inspections in the past eight academic years had been impacted on by action short of strike. To be clear, in those cases, that disruption means that the ETI is unable to provide assurance to parents, carers, school communities and all stakeholders on the quality of education that is being delivered. It also means that, in every one of those cases, the ETI has been unable to fully evaluate child protection and wider safeguarding arrangements, which are a core and critical protection for children. As a result of action short of strike, many schools have gone without meaningful inspection and, therefore, external scrutiny. That support is essential to driving improvement to make sure that children are safe and are making progress in their learning. With the return of inspection, 10 schools have been identified as needing sustained external support through formal intervention processes. Those were the first schools to enter formal intervention and receive external support in the eight years since 2017. By way of comparison, in the eight academic years before 2017, 80 schools received support. Thirteen other schools are in follow-up and receiving support, and their improvement will be evaluated through progress inspection. What does it mean when inspection is obstructed or cooperation is withheld? To be clear, it means that there is no classroom observation of teaching and learning. Lesson plans, pupil data and individual learning materials are not shared. Staff have refused to meet inspectors, preventing evaluation of their training and awareness and understanding of key policies. Often, questionnaires have not been issued to pupils and parents, and their voice has not been heard. ETI is the only organisation that inspects child protection arrangements. Sinn Féin and trade unions have contended that safeguarding was fully protected during action short of strike: that is, quite simply, not true. From 2017, the unions permitted the sharing of safeguarding documentation only, but that is not sufficient. Read the inspection reports. Time and again, they state that, during that period, ETI was unable to fully evaluate the outworking of safeguarding arrangements. In order to properly evaluate safeguarding, inspectors must hear directly from pupils and parents through questionnaires, observe classroom interactions, speak with designated teachers and governors, analyse pastoral data and critically examine how policies operate in reality, not just on paper. Under action short of strike, almost none of that was possible. Only a consistent, unimpeded programme of inspection can provide the necessary assurances that unknown safeguarding issues are being identified and that robust child protection arrangements are in place in our schools. The facts are deeply troubling. The Northern Ireland Audit Office reported that, in the three years prior to action short of strike, the ETI identified 37 schools where child protection arrangements were unsatisfactory. In the five years between 2020 and May 2025, that figure fell to just eight schools. That is not progress or improvement; it should be a warning sign. Since full inspection has resumed, serious safeguarding failures have once again been identified and schools have been found to have significant shortcomings in child protection provision. In those cases, ETI acted immediately, triggering intervention by the Child Protection Support Service (CPSS) and conducting follow-up inspections within six weeks. In other schools, inspectors identified that child protection training had lapsed, putting pupils at risk and requiring urgent corrective action. Perhaps most powerfully of all, pupil questionnaires revealed that some children did not feel safe in school, and it was only through inspection that support could be put in place. That is the reality. Without inspection, those voices are not heard, those risks remain hidden and those children remain vulnerable. Without inspection, risk does not merely increase; it becomes unavoidable that schools that require support may not be identified and that children may remain in environments where vulnerabilities go unseen. We know from bitter experience where that can lead. It has taken time to reach this point, but I am pleased that we can now have an open and transparent public discussion on legislation that goes to the heart of our approach to education. Inspection is fundamental. It is a cornerstone of every effective education system and an essential safeguard of the significant public investment that we make — over £3 billion each year — to give every child the best possible start in life. The public rightly expects assurance that that investment is delivering high-quality education and that we are keeping children safe. When our education system falls short, the consequences extend far beyond the classroom. There are fundamental links between poor educational outcomes and unemployment and to greater demands on our health system, our benefits system and our criminal justice system. There are exponentially rising costs to society when education goes wrong. The cost of education failure is profound and far-reaching. Inspection is central to preventing that failure. It not only provides assurance but actively drives improvement by identifying effective practice, supporting schools to raise standards and ensuring that learning from the best is shared across the system. It also plays a critical role in shaping policy and targeting resources. Through school inspections and wider thematic work, the Education and Training Inspectorate provides a cross-sectional evaluation of our system. It can identify trends and phase insights, such as oracy challenges in preschool and Foundation Stage, dive more deeply into the delivery of specific parts of the curriculum, evaluate the impact of new education initiatives and assess the services that support our schools. It provides the evidence that we rely on to take informed decisions and to support where that support is most needed. Above all, inspection protects our most vulnerable children. It is the only independent mechanism that we have to assess safeguarding arrangements in schools and to ensure that those arrangements keep pace with evolving risks. It is also essential in evaluating provision for children with special educational needs, an area of exponentially growing demand and unaffordable provision. In short, effective inspection is not optional: it is indispensable. Yet the reality in Northern Ireland is that our legislative framework contains a critical gap, unlike every other jurisdiction across these islands. We do not have clear legal provision to ensure cooperation with inspection. While current legislation requires schools to be open to inspection, it does not explicitly require cooperation. Some have argued that the present arrangements are already sufficient to require inspection, but that ambiguity has been exploited, allowing inspection to be drawn into industrial action and significantly impeded for over a decade. This has nothing — I mean absolutely nothing — to do with the right to strike: that right remains untouched. Nor does it affect the right to take action short of strike, which also continues. It is about one thing only: removing child protection and inspection from the arena of industrial leverage. Obstructing a statutory, independent process designed to protect our most vulnerable young people cannot be considered as working to rule; nor can it be considered acceptable conduct. It should never have featured in directives from unions to an ethical and dedicated profession that is committed to reflecting on its practice and to continuous improvement. Such directives damage the teaching profession. I have worked tirelessly to provide equitable and significant pay offers to ensure that our teachers are fairly remunerated for the excellent and tireless work that they do in our classrooms every day. I have invested in attracting and retaining that critical workforce, providing bursaries for hard-to-fill subject areas. Since taking up office, I have raised the starting salary of a teacher by a third. I have prioritised investment in professional development from initial teacher training to the development of new and experienced school leaders. I commissioned an independent review of teacher workload and have published a comprehensive action plan that aims decisively to reduce teacher workload. I will continue to ensure that my Department and employing authorities look creatively and consistently at ways to reduce teacher and school leader workload in every action that they take. My flagship reform programme, TransformED, offers significant opportunities for workload reduction. We are moving into the implementation stage, which will make it a reality.

It will take longer than 2.00 pm.

2,334 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:43 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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