THIS newspaper makes no apologies for returning to a subject on our pages and in this column that is the most important issue facing the district.

The problems facing education in Bradford are all too clear to see, and in simple terms, too many of our children are being let down by the system.

Alarm bells have been raised by a new Bradford Council report which shows how performance in five out of seven key education areas has worsened.

Of course, figures and league tables are not the be all and end all of how well our schools are performing, but they are an important part of it. This latest report has opened up another war of words over who is to blame for this situation, but the most important thing to turn to now is how we move forward.

Last year's report by Professor David Woods, an education expert who helped turn around London's under-performing schools system, concluded there was a "lack of urgency" to improve the district's education standards.

The Council took that on board, with many of its recommendations accepted. But the figures published today show that in some very important performance areas the district is well below national standards. That must ask questions of the Woods report's confidence that by 2017 the district will be attaining national average.

What is clear is that more work needs to be done, and the local authority must use all available resources and expertise to improve this situation. We are currently failing our children and their parents. We simply must do better.