EDUCATION chiefs bogged themselves down with off-target initiatives that failed to raise school standards, according to an Ofsted report in Leigh.

People working for the Leigh Education Action Zone flooded schools with too many schemes, too few of which focused directly on raising standards, it was claimed.

The result was a lack of progress in improving behaviour and attendance among school children.

The assessment of the Zone, by the Office of Standards in Education, also said the it failed to evaluate initiatives adequately leading "to some ineffective work being allowed to continue unchanged for too long."

But despite the failings, the report concluded that the Zone is now making good progress and had begun to monitor its own work more strongly.

Two positive outcomes of the Zone highlighted by Ofsted were the "significant reduction" in pupil exclusions from secondary schools, and the greater co-operation between schools.

Leigh Education Action Zone was set up in 1999 and was one of 25 created across the country.

It intends to tackle underachievement and social exclusion in Leigh, a town deemed to be a disadvantaged area by the Government.

Education bosses are handed £750,000 a year for three years, and are asked to raise a further £250,000 per year from a private source.

The funding is extended to five years if a Zone can show its plans are adequate.

The Zone was compiled jointly by Wigan Council and Wigan Education-Business Partnership, and consists of 21 primary schools, three special schools and two secondary schools.

Two-thirds of the schools are voluntary aided and the majority are situated in Leigh Central Ward - which is one of the 20 per cent most deprived wards in England - and is in the lowest

Gareth Williams, project director of the Leigh Education Action Zone, said: "Ofsted have produced a very useful report and it means we can focus in on the core job without distraction. The Zone had already started to focus more positively before the Ofsted inspectors wrote the report and it means there are a good two years ahead.

"I think the report's authors were justified in saying there was a lack of focus initially, but it's natural for new organisations to define their core purpose in the first few months.

"It definitely wasn't a case of the people who started the project getting it wrong."

Wigan LEA passed the Ofsted test with flying colours and is said to be one of the most effective education services in Britain.

The authority's strengths "are significant and far outweigh the few weaknesses", the Ofsted report concluded.

It said there was good support for literacy and numeracy in primary and special schools and excellent support to schools causing concern.

Director of Education Bob Clark said: "I am delighted with this report. Although we think we know the quality of our work, it is always satisfying to get external validation from a body as prestigious as Ofsted."