UK Government: Blackstone announces Chief Inspector of Adult Learning Inspectorate
Education and Employment Minister Baroness Blackstone today
announced the appointment of David Sherlock as Chief Inspector of the Adult
Learning Inspectorate (ALI).
Mr Sherlock is currently the Chief Inspector of the Training
Standards Council. ALI, which starts operation in April 2001, will bring together
the inspection of adult education and work-based training into a single new
inspectorate.
Baroness Blackstone said:
"I am very pleased to welcome David Sherlock as the
Chief Inspector of the ALI. As Chief Inspector of the Training Standards Council
he has shown commitment to raising the standard of work-based training. He possesses
the energy and determination to deliver the aims and objectives of the new inspectorate.
"It is essential that we secure as rigorous an inspection
regime for adult education as OFSTED provides for schools. David has already
worked closely with both the Further Education Funding Council and OFSTED, and
will use this experience to work with further education colleges, employers,
LEAs and other training organisations to set a new agenda for improving the
quality of post-16 education."
Mr Sherlock said:
"Its a great honour to be the countrys first Chief
Inspector of Adult Learning. The Learning and Skills Act signals a change of
direction. What is best for each individual learner may be a course in a public
sector college, a training programme with a private sector employer, or basic
skills and e-learning in the community. Adult learners should be able to make
reliable comparisons between these different kinds of provision, so that they
can find the best possible deal."
Nick Reilly, Chair of the ALI said:
“David Sherlock was selected from a very strong group of
candidates for the
Chief Inspector’s role which is testament to his skills, experience and
leadership. I have been very impressed with the work he
has done at the
Training Standards Council. He has built up the respect
of employers,training providers, colleges and a wide network of organisations
with which he will work in the future.
"I am confident that with David at the helm, the ALI will add a lot of value to the new world of post-16 learning and help to achieve the ambitious targets that are essential to raising both the capability and the inclusiveness of the nation.”
NOTES TO READERS
- Mr Sherlock, 56, has been the Chief Inspector of the
Training Standards Council since it came into being in 1997. He has considerable
experience in both education and inspection. Between 1975 and 1993, he was
Deputy Director of the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Principal
at Londons Central St Martins College of Art & Design, as well as Development
Director of the Royal College of Art, London. Mr Sherlock was also a partner
in a design consultancy, Design Ergonomics, which worked with major companies
in healthcare. Mr Sherlock has not undertaken any political activity in the
last five years.
- The appointment is on a full-time basis. Salary £80,000
to £95,000 per annum.
- The inspections currently undertaken by the FEFC inspectorate
will be undertaken by OFSTED and the ALI, and the work currently undertaken
by the Training Standards Council will be undertaken solely by the ALI. The
ALI will also inspect learndirect provision delivered through learndirect
centres. The responsibilities of OFSTED will be extended to the inspection
of all 16 to 19 year-olds education in schools and colleges. Where both the
ALI and the schools inspectorate OFSTED have an interest in one college the
inspection will be conducted jointly by a single team of inspectors. They
will produce one report under a common inspection framework.
- Nick Reilly was appointed Chair of the ALI on 4 July
2000 (PN 309/00).
- The creation of the ALI, which will be based in Coventry,
was contained within the Learning and Skills Act which received Royal Assent
on 28 July 2000 (PN 353/00).
