Call to reduce legislation

Giving evidence to a House of Lords Select Committee in December, ASCL officers called for the amount of secondary legislation, or statutory instruments (SIs), affecting schools and colleges to be reduced.

ASCL stressed that the use of SIs as such is not the main problem, rather it is the overwhelming volume of government activity of all sorts. There is a marked tendency to constantly revise SIs and statutory guidance, which makes it very hard for schools and colleges to keep up.

The costs to the education service of schools and colleges attempting to understand and comply with ever-changing legislation include monetary costs borne by the institution, as well as the opportunity costs of leaders' time and attention being diverted away from their core business.

Finally, ASCL said, too little time and attention is paid by government departments to the dissemination of guidance which would be genuinely useful to school and college leaders.

The consultation response can be found at www.ascl.org.uk/consultations along with responses to consultations on Ofqual's powers, parental complaints and the Lord Laming progress report on safeguarding.