A former government adviser fears that the fall out from a Whitehall turf war between Ofsted and Department for Education commissioners could have led to schools receiving less support to improve.

Les Walton has questioned the impact of former education secretary Damian Hinds’ decision to stop DfE regional school commissioners’ teams carrying out their own inspection-style visits to schools.

Mr Walton, who was the chair of the advisory board to the DfE’s Education and Skills Funding Agency, said: “There was a disagreement between Ofsted and the national schools commissioner about the NSC and regional schools commissioners employing Ofsted inspectors to go on these school visits.

“The secretary of state at the time put a stop to it so these visits from the regional school commissioner’s teams into these schools simply stopped.

“But I would ask whether the support to improve these schools were receiving has dropped as a result of this?”

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Mr Hinds announced in 2018 that he was ending what had become known as shadow inspections by commissioners as part of his plan to simplify the level of accountability schools faced.

“Commissioners commission,” he told heads. “Ofsted inspectors inspect.”

At the time it was seen as a victory for chief inspector Amanda Spielman and Ofsted over Sir David Carter, then national schools Commissioner.

But Mr Walton - founding chair of the Northern Education Trust academy chain and a former leading head and local authority education director - is concerned about the impact it has had on the level of school improvement support.

As evidence, he points to Ofsted’s recent report into stuck schools, which suggested some schools needed better and more tailored support.

Mr Walton also told Tes that he had warned the government that there is a gap in the country’s schools system partly because of a lack of investment and quality assurance in school improvement.

“When I stepped down from the funding agency, Lord Nash [then a schools minister] asked me if I had any advice,” Mr Walton said. “And I told him ‘You have got a gap’.

“I said: ‘You quality assure Ofsted and put a pile of money into that  but you don’t invest in the quality and standards of those who support schools. You need to quality assure that’.”

Mr Walton now wants to fill that gap and has helped to launch the Association of Education Advisers which will quality assure the work of people wanting to work in school improvement.

The association has developed an accreditation scheme with Sheffield Hallam University with around 100 people signed up so far.

Ofsted and the DfE were approached for comment.