A NEW plan to help improve education in Bradford will need to reflect the “rapidly changing” landscape, according to a new report.

The strategy, which will be discussed by a committee of councillors tomorrow, will need to take into account the fact that more of the district’s schools will become academies, free from council control, in the coming years.

And the director of children’s services on Bradford Council says the plan will allow the authority to “clarify its role” in a system where councils have less of a say over children’s education.

Eighteen out of Bradford's 30 secondary schools are currently academies, and 27 out of 157 primaries are outside local authority control.

Last summer the council’s education department was told it “required improvement” by schools inspection body Ofsted, which led to the council producing an action plan to tackle the issues raised by inspectors.

Tomorrow the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee will hear that one year on from the plan's implementation, a new “education, employment and skills development plan” will be needed.

The report says: “This plan will need to take account of the rapidly changing education landscape, including academisation and the changing role of the local authority.”

A timescale for the new strategy has yet to be decided.

Michael Jameson, Strategic Director of Children’s Services, said: “We need a plan which takes account of these changes so that the council can be very clear about its future role.

“We believe that many people have a part to play and need to work together in raising achievement.

“This includes parents, businesses, colleges and schools – whether they are free schools, academies or maintained schools. We want to champion this so we can have better outcomes for our young people.”

The report will also look at what has been achieved in the 12 months since the Ofsted improvement plan was implemented.

One way the council has looked to improve schools is by partnering good and outstanding school headteachers with schools that are "causing concern."

Local teaching school alliances have also been asked to recruit more national leaders to work with schools.

Out of 73 “tasks” identified to improve schools, just 11 have led to positive results. There are 58 tasks that have been implemented with “limited” impact, and three that have had no impact.

However, the report says that many of these actions will “take time to demonstrate a sustainable impact.”

The committee meets in City Hall at 4.30pm.