Sir David Carter’s resignation underlines the flaws in his role

Whitehaven Academy, the centre of a parent and staff campaign against the way it has been run

The news that Sir David Carter is to stand down from his position as National Schools Commissioner (NSC) came only days after parents at the crisis-ridden Whitehaven Academy in Cumbria had complained of struggling to get him to respond to their concerns.

Are these two facts connected?

I do not think it is implausible, since the seeming lack of sustained engagement with parents of both the National Schools Commissioner’s office and that of the Regional Schools Commissioner, which reports to the NSC, underlines both conceptual and pragmatic flaws in the structure that Carter has headed.

An asset to the academies sector