Stress and workload increase for Ofsted staff

(22/7/04) Ofsted has announced plans to reduce costs by £40 million over the next three years and to implement a 20% reduction in staffing levels - despite pressure from UNISON to reduce increasing work load pressure on staff.

UNISON has around 850 members employed by Ofsted who work as part of the support team.

Ofsted has maintained that it always intended to restructure and that the changes are in line with the budget reductions requested by the Treasury and DfES.

It stated that it intends to make staff reductions by “natural wastage” wherever possible. An assurance has been given that there will be no compulsory redundancies, but only for the next 12 months.

In June, UNISON sent a letter to the children’s minister Margaret Hodge, raising issues about unrealistic performance targets, workload and stress levels for members who work for Ofsted.

UNISON national officer Fiona Westwood wrote: “This approach has produced an excessive hours culture. It generates unhelpful competitive strain which undermines teamwork and it has resulted in a climate of pressure and intimidation, since managers and employees try desperately hard to meet these unachievable targets,’ she wrote.

“It is manifestly unfair to consistently expect our members to meet these unachievable targets, and I am concerned about the very negative effect that this is having on their health and wellbeing.”

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