BRADFORD Council's decision-making executive is to consider a recommendation to set up an independent working party to look at how a school's governing body was replaced en-masse last year.

Governors at Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College were sacked in April, after claims they proved a barrier to school improvement.

A 1,600-strong petition, led by the former Laisterdyke governing body chairman and standing Bradford Councillor Faisal Khan, called for a public enquiry into events surrounding the replacement of the school's governing body with an Interim Executive Board (IEB), which can only be introduced with the approval of the Secretary of State.

After considering the petition, the Council's Children's Services Overview and Scrutiny committee has recommended that a working party be set up to examine how the process was carried out in Laisterdyke's case.

Michael Jameson, the Council's strategic director of Children's Services, has submitted a report setting out three options open to the executive.

It suggests a working party be established, including an independent chair and head teacher not from the local area, and a senior school improvement officer from another local authority.

The executive has the choice of setting up a working group under the terms described in the report, setting up a group using alternative arrangements, or declining the recommendations from the Scrutiny committee.

Councillor David Green, leader of Bradford Council, said a "concern for the young people" at Laisterdyke had underpinned all the authority's actions.

"Everyone associated with the school can be reassured by this open and democratic process, which has ensured that the petition is given a full and fair hearing," he said.

"At schools where we and Ofsted have serious concerns about governance, we would be failing in our duty if we did not act.

"Bringing in an IEB is a well established process in school improvement, both locally and nationally.

"It is the local authority's role to support and, where necessary, challenge robustly governing bodies.

"Laisterdyke is no different to any other school in this regard, it is one of 17 schools in our district that have had an IEB at some stage since 2003.

"Nevertheless, we always welcome constructive scrutiny of our school improvement activity as we work to drive forward school improvement throughout the district."

Councillor Malcolm Sykes, chairman of the Children's Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee, said: "The committee examined all the information and evidence, making sure we were not compromised by any pre-judgement of the issues, before coming to an independent conclusion.

"I welcome the executive considering our recommendation to set up a working party looking at how the governing body was replaced.”

Cllr Khan (Independent, Bradford Moor) also welcomed the announcement, saying the process was "long overdue."

"It has taken a lot of effort to get this far, and it is important the investigation remains transparent," he said.

"I hope the truth will eventually come out."

The report is due to go before the executive on Tuesday.