A BRADFORD Council action plan to improve the performance of the district’s schools is a "useful tool" despite having some weaknesses, according to a top Ofsted official.

It was drawn up shortly after Ofsted inspectors criticised the pace of school improvement in the district over recent years and the board’s regional director Nick Hudson has since written to the council saying he still had some issues with its approach.

The watchdog published its report into the council in August, and although inspectors said there was “cause for optimism” and a noticeable change in how the improvements were being implemented, the authority was required to draft a school improvement plan to prove it was taking immediate action to boost standards.

After the council submitted its action plan, Mr Hudson sent a response to children’s services director Michael Jameson raising several issues.

The letter says: “Timescales for completion are ambitious, but given the aspiration to improve rapidly appear to be manageable.

“Overall the plan appears to be a useful tool to drive the required improvements. However, there are some weaknesses that need to be tackled.

“While it is commendable that targets are usually measurable there are no baselines of current performance or comparison to the national average so it is hard for councillors to know whether targets are challenging enough.”

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, executive member for education, said: “We have a constructive relationship with regional Ofsted and I welcomed its inspection in June.

“It gave us the opportunity to have our plan for school improvement scrutinised and endorsed by them. School-led improvement is at the heart of that plan."