East Ayrshire Council head of schools, Andrew Sutherland, is to become Falkirk Council's education director.

Mr Sutherland will succeed Julia Swan in December. He has held his current position as head of Aberdeenshire's Meldrum Academy for seven years, overseeing its 2001 opening. The University of Glasgow history and politics graduate gave evidence on behalf of COSLA to the Scottish Parliament last month on the implications of the McCormac review.