AN MP says he has no faith in a local authority to turn round a crisis-hit federation school.

Labour’s Kevan Jones said Labour-led Durham County Council had dragged its feet over leadership problems at the Durham Federation, which was plunged into special measures last week just two years after being declared the most improved school in the country.

Mr Jones said he and fellow MP Roberta Blackman-Woods had raised concerns more than a year ago and called on the Department for Education to step in and take urgent action.

Last week Ofsted condemned the Federation, Durham Community Business College (DCBC) in Ushaw Moor and Fyndoune Community College in Sacriston, as failing, triggering the closure of its sixth form, the resignation of its chair of governors and its emergency conversion into an academy.

Mr Jones, whose constituency covers Sacriston, said: “My main concern is to ensure there is urgent action. We need to move quickly. We can’t have confidence in the school undermined.”

However, many close to the schools say that has already happened.

One source said: “The communities of north Durham are being let down badly.”

Dr Blackman-Woods, whose constituency covers Ushaw Moor, defended the council, saying it was facing a very difficult situation, instead questioning how Ofsted had declared the Federation “outstanding” in 2011 but reached such “drastically different conclusions” just three years later.

The DfE did not respond to The Northern Echo’s request for comment.

Caroline O’Neill, the council’s head of education, said following the 2011 outstanding report, it had no authority to intervene in the schools’ day to day management and the Federation had appointed an independent school improvement officer.

There had been no rapid decline in standards which would have allowed council intervention, she added.

“Despite this we have looked into all the issues brought to our attention and offered advice and support to the schools so they could undertake the investigations they were responsible for,” Mrs O’Neill said.

The council has installed two acclaimed headteachers to help turn the school around and in the longer term it is likely to become an academy.

Just two years ago, Fyndoune was named the country’s most improved secondary school and DCBC won the region’s first Studio School sixth form.

However, three headteachers were then suspended within a year. The first, Anne Lakey, is awaiting re-trial on child sex charges.