The reliability of school inspections will be 鈥渃ompromised鈥 if funding is 鈥渇urther constrained鈥, the board of Ofsted has told government. Actions taken by the watchdog to absorb rising costs are a 鈥渟hort-term fix鈥 and will likely 鈥渟tore up cost pressures鈥 for this year and beyond, Ofsted鈥檚 chair Dame Christine Ryan said during a September board meeting. Christine Ryan Minutes, , added: 鈥淢any parts of the DfE regulatory system, including actions following a 鈥榬equires improvement鈥 or 鈥榠nadequate鈥 rating, rely on Ofsted inspection judgments. 鈥淎 high level of assurance on the reliability of inspection judgements is therefore needed, but will be compromised if inspection itself and the activities that support inspection quality are further constrained.鈥 While the comments were made under the previous Ofsted leadership, the watchdog also sounded the alarm over finances last week. Funding has ‘fallen significantly’ Responding to calls from MPs for longer inspections, Ofsted said its role and responsibilities have 鈥渆xpanded significantly鈥 since 2005. However its funding has 鈥渇allen significantly 鈥渙ver the same period, and is now 29 per cent lower in real terms compared with 2009-10鈥. The board update added 鈥渦nfunded pay guidance鈥 on top of budget reductions meant the inspectorate was also 鈥渓osing its capacity for independent discretionary work, which provides insight on themes of national importance emerging from its inspection and regulatory work鈥. The minutes added: 鈥淭he chair described these as systemic issues that need to be considered fully by the DfE, including in its own risk assessments. The watchdog confirmed this week that MAT summary evaluations are on pause indefinitely, with a decision on their future to be made after the Big Listen consultation. Previously, they had been paused until the end of this month. Speaking at an event this week, senior HMI Kirsty Godfrey said this was to 鈥渇ree up as much inspector time as possible to support our school inspection work鈥. However she added the inspectorate remains 鈥渃ommitted to being as ambitious as possible to increase accountability and transparency of trusts through our school inspection work鈥. Ofsted declined to comment. A DfE spokesperson said: 鈥淲e have worked closely with Ofsted to make significant changes to reform inspections and have seen standards rising… 鈥淪chool funding is rising to more than 拢60 billion next year and we have provided Ofsted with additional funding to speed up inspections since the pandemic to give parents an up-to-date picture about school performance. 鈥淚t is for Ofsted to prioritise its resources whilst ensuring value for money for the taxpayer alongside a fair and proportionate inspection regime.鈥