Sir Michael Wilshaw tells Michael Burton councils are turning their backs on their duty to intervene in failing schools.

Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw believes that despite the huge increase in the number of academies; there remains a key role for the local authority in ensuring they are up to scratch. Indeed, far from having a diminished status in education provision, local authorities in his view need to take a more pro-active role in ensuring their schools are performing well and is highly critical of the uneven pattern of council support.