Following the revelations in The TES the Local Government Association has sent a letter to Michael Bichard, the Department for Education and Employment’s senior civil servant. It says: “The LGA shares the alarm a considerable number of local authorities have been expressing to us this week about the leading article in last week’s TES.”

The letter signed by Neil Fletcher, LGA’s head of education, leisure and tourism, said he wanted confirmation from the permanent secretary that the plans will not be marked according to presumptions about the effectiveness of local authorities.

The DFEE has advertised for companies and charities to bid to run education services in failing councils.