Who are the IRU Panel Members?

"We set up the IRU......to provide scrutiny of the plans of government, agencies and local authorities in the interests of minimising burdens on Schools. We believe that the IRU is doing valuable work......"
White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools For All.

"Listening to the IRU makes me think very hard about delivery of our policies. We in government must, for the sake of children and young people growing up in the modern world, ask a great deal of schools. At the same time we must give schools the freedom they need to meet our aspirations.

That is why the IRU's championship of our new relationship with schools is crucial. In making that new relationship a reality I welcome the challenge the IRU sets for my Department, our agencies and local authorities to focus our expectations of schools more on outcomes than activities.

I welcome also the support the IRU gives us in tackling potential barriers and confusions in the channels of communication between government, schools and the national, regional and local bodies that work with them. These can too easily prevent us hearing the voice of practitioners on the ground and divert their energies and efforts from where they are most effective, working directly with children and young people."
Jim Knight, Minister of State for Schools & Learners.