HC 401 - The Role of Regional Schools Commissioners

Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) were introduced as a pragmatic response to the need to ensure appropriate oversight of a growing number of academies. There is a clear need for an intermediate structure between Whitehall and individual schools, and RSCs are beginning to provide this. However, the schools landscape - and the role of the RSCs - is continuing to evolve, and the RSCs now form part of an increasingly complicated system of oversight, accountability and inspection. A more fundamental reassessment of accountability and oversight for all schools will be required in the future to provide coherence.In the meantime, the relationships that RSCs build with other components of this system, including local authorities, Ofsted, teaching schools, and parents and localcommunities, are crucial to securing impact on school improvement. An emphasis on working with and through these key partners will help ensure that RSCs have the capacity to cope with planned expansion of their role. However, the role of RSCs remains unclear to many and this must be addressed for effective relationships to be formed.