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The Ofsted report has highlighted very grave concerns about the running of the LEA. Given that the problems are so serious, why haven't they been picked up before?
Director of Education Diane Cavanagh replied: "Our analysis was not markedly different than the analysis by Ofsted but they reached their conclusions within the national context."

Will any senior managers be resigning in light of the report's damning verdict of poor management and leadership in the LEA?
"I don't think I can answer for other people. There is nothing in the report that implies it would be helpful for me to resign."

 How will you improve management and leadership without a significant change in personnel?
"We recognised that we didn't have the capacity to accept this level of improvement by ourselves and the discussions we have been having over the last few months have looked to significant inputs by the private or voluntary sector."

It will take a number of weeks for consultants to come back with a report advising how education services can be improved. Do you propose taking any short-term action to address the most serious concerns?
"There are some very practical things that we can do immediately and  some we have already put in train. For example with the preparation time for statements of special educational need we have reviewed the staffing and set new targets."

Bradford's performance in national league tables has been poor for a number of years. How soon do you expect to see an improvement in standards?
"Standards are improving already — it is a question of the rate of acceleration."

What are the cost implications of making the improvements the Ofsted report has outlined? Where will that money come from?
"We have not assessed the cost implications yet but I think they will be significant and if necessary we will redirect resources into critical areas form those that are judged to be less important."

What are the implications of this report for the schools shake-up, particularly as inspectors have said the authority is now working to too tight a timescale on the building programme?
"I don't think there are any direct implications for the programme. We are on the verge of appointing a managing partner and the purpose is to co-ordinate all the remaining actions for the way ahead."

Does this report mean the Council will be forced to bring in a private company to help it run education services?
Diana Cavanagh viewed this as a question for a councillor to answer. Councillor David Ward, executive committee member with responsibility for education, said: "Consultants will be asked to look at whether there should be a private partnership and what that private partnership should be. That is not in our hands and is a requirement of the minister."

You have already decided to redirect £11 million towards schools in the next three years. Will you be looking for more money for schools given the report's criticism that they have been under-funded?
Diana Cavanagh: "It is not clear that even with the extra £11 million that we would achieve funding to the Government's standard spending assessment level and is a clear expectation of the report. So the Council will have to assess that."

The report says that political decision-making has damaged the Council's abilities to tackle priority issues in the past. What measures can be taken to ensure this does not happen in the future?
"This is for the politicians to comment on."