EDUCATION inspectors are to pay a follow-up visit to Argyll and Bute Council this spring after publishing a highly-critical report on the authority 12 months ago.

The ‘strategic level inspection’ of the council’s education service will take place on Monday, May 14 and Tuesday, May 15.

Education Scotland’s initial report on the authority, published in March 2017, recommended “urgent and sustained action” to improve services after four out of five quality indicators were assessed as ‘weak’.

The council itself took issue with many aspects of that report, with acting community services director Anne Marie Knowles saying shortly after it was published that the council had “concerns about the process and outcomes of the inspection”, which was carried out in September 2016.

The follow-up inspection will be led by the same inspector, Alistair Brown, who compiled last year’s critical report.