Education Act 2005

25 Registration of inspectors in Wales

(1) No person may conduct an inspection of any school in Wales under section 28 unless—

(a) he is a member of the Inspectorate, or

(b) he is registered as an inspector in a register kept by the Chief Inspector for the purposes of this Chapter.

(2) The Chief Inspector may not register a person under this section unless, having regard to any conditions that he proposes to impose under subsection (4)(c), it appears to him that that person—

(a) is a fit and proper person for discharging the functions of a registered inspector, and

(b) will be capable of conducting inspections under this Chapter competently and effectively,

and no person may be so registered if he falls within a category of persons prescribed for the purposes of this subsection.

(3) An application for registration under this section—

(a) must be made in such manner, and be accompanied by such particulars, as the Chief Inspector may direct, and

(b) must be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

(4) On an application duly made under this section the Chief Inspector may—

(a) register the applicant,

(b) refuse to register him, or

(c) register him subject to such conditions as the Chief Inspector considers it appropriate to impose.

(5) The matters to which the Chief Inspector may have regard in deciding whether to register the applicant include, in particular—

(a) the extent to which the Chief Inspector proposes to exercise his discretion under subsection (1) of section 28 to secure that inspections under that section are conducted by members of the Inspectorate rather than registered inspectors, and

(b) the extent to which there is a need for registered inspectors in Wales.

(6) Conditions under subsection (4)(c) may be conditions applying generally in relation to all cases, or particular classes of case, or such conditions together with specific conditions applying in the particular case.

(7) Where a person is registered subject to conditions imposed under subsection (4)(c), he is to be taken to be authorised to act as a registered inspector only so far as those conditions permit.

(8) The period for which any registration is to have effect is to be determined by the Chief Inspector and must be entered in the register kept by him.

(9) Nothing in subsection (8) is to be taken as preventing a registered inspector from applying for a fresh registration to take effect immediately on the expiry of his current registration.