A NEW council has appointed a former Oxford University tutor as its £60,000-a-year head of education.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has given the top education post to Mark Pattison, currently responsible for improving schools in Leeds.

Mr Pattison will become Education and Training Director in the run-up to the council's changeover to single authority status.

The father of three will take up his new post at the end of August.

He said: "There is a great deal of work to be done as we prepare for unitary status.

"I am confident that, with the help and support of the members, officers and local people, we can move forward and achieve success."

Mr Pattison, who lives in Huddersfield, is currently Acting Senior Assistant Director of Education at Leeds City Council.

He is a graduate of the University of Essex and started his teaching career at Carshalton High School for Girls in the London borough of Sutton.

Mr Pattison's part-time work work includes spells as tutor in politics at Oxford University and a one-term lecturer in public administration at Oxford Polytechnic.

He also undertook a one-term visiting fellowship at the University of California.

Education and Training Committee chairman Coun Bill Taylor said: "We feel we have made an excellent appointment in Mark Pattison.

"He is highly qualified and has a wealth of expertise and experience and I believe he is the right man to lead us into a new era of education for the borough."

It is the second major appointment made by the council following the announcement of Phil Watson as chief executive.

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