Local Authority and Pre-Inspection Reviews
Renfrewshire Council · 3 February 2026
Back to Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff — 3 February 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PUBLIC Agenda Item .......... Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers To: Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers On: 3rd February 2026 Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) Local Authority and Pre-Inspection Reviews 1. Background Feedback from Renfrewshire teachers has highlighted concerns at the increased workload arising from Local Authority and pre-inspection reviews. Demands are being made on teacher time at short notice and outwith the agreed Working Time Agreement arrangements. These demands are impacting on teacher workload at a time when the existing workload is becoming increasingly unsustainable as evidenced by the EIS survey which demonstrated that teachers are working on average eleven hours a week over and above their contractual hours. The EIS National Executive has responded recently to the HMIE consultation document ‘School Inspections are Changing.’ This response highlighted that school and local authority inspection rehearsals remain significant drivers of excessive workload and stress. Key to the EIS critique is the perception that whilst purporting to be a model which is collaborative and supports schools to be self-improving, in practice the system, in the eyes of teachers, is a disempowering experience which frequently fails to get to the heart of a school’s endeavour to serve the needs of its community. It is costly in terms of time and resource, yet it is of very limited value in supporting accurate self-evaluation and informing professional practice. Local Authority Managers possess detailed knowledge of community and contextual factors. The EIS recognises that Local Authority educational leadership is key in providing an understanding of the environments in which schools operate. However, the top-down external scrutiny model, driven by data heavy demands on schools is counter-productive in securing genuine and sustained educational improvement. A more collegiate approach to ongoing mentoring and support that recognises the professionalism of teachers and is in keeping with the teacher empowerment agenda of the Scottish Government would provide a more constructive approach to educational improvement.
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PUBLIC 2. Recommendation Workload is a safeguarding and wellbeing issue. The additional burden arising from inspection reviews carries the danger of leading to burnout and sickness absence. The reviews impact on deadlines already agreed through the Working Time Agreement. They also impact on already agreed teacher planning time with consequent implications for ongoing teaching and learning. The Teachers’ Side is requesting that the arrangements relating to the gathering of evidence and data pertaining to Local Authority and pre-inspection reviews to be the subject of dialogue between the Management and Teachers’ Side with a view to addressing the workload concerns of Renfrewshire teachers thereby preserving the integrity of each establishment’s Working Time Agreement.