Professor John MacBeath, director of the Quality in Education Centre at Strathclyde University, has been appointed to the task force on standards south of the border.
Professor MacBeath, known to ministers for his work on school effectiveness and with the Prince’s Trust, joins a team jointly headed by Chris Woodhead, controversial head of the Office for Standards in Education, and Tim Brighouse, one of his arch-critics, who is chief education officer in Birmingham. Sir David Puttnam, the film producer, will add a touch of glamour.