Commenting after education secretary Bridget Phillipson tabled an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and School Bills to include plans for Ofsted to inspection multi-academy trusts, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“It is understandable that the government is looking to introduce the inspection of multi-academy trusts (MATs) given the increasingly prominent role they play in the school sector.

“It will be vital that the policy is developed with great care and consideration as there are risks attached to it.

"Foremost in the government’s mind must be the need to avoid adding any additional pressure or burdens onto individual schools that are already highly accountable in multiple ways.

“We are pleased the government has committed to working with the profession when designing a trust inspection framework. It’s important that starts with first principles and a clear, agreed understanding of what the purpose of MAT inspection is.”