Former Ofsted chief takes over as Acting Brent Chief Executive

With amazing timing Brent Council has announced, on the eve of the Brent Education Debate (Copland High School, Wembley 7pm tomorrow), that it has appointed Christine Gilbert former Ofsted Chief Inspector, as Acting Chief Executive. Before that she was the Chief Executive of Tower Hanmets.  She is expected to start in November and will remain in post until the permanent new Chief  Executive is appointed, which could take several months.

This is what the Guardian said about her soon after she moved from Ofsted when Michael Gove became Secretary of State for Education:

A shy media performer, Gilbert is known for being tough on schools. She triggered controversy with headteachers by raising the bar for inspections, insisting that a "satisfactory" grading would no longer be enough and that all schools should be aiming to be rated at least "good", if not "outstanding".

Ofsted inspection results have improved steadily over the period. Most recently, she claimed that too many lessons in English schools are still "dull and inspiring".

She was heavily criticised over Ofsted's role in the inspection of Haringey council during the period when Peter Connolly – known as Baby P – was killed. She admitted failings in the inspection system that rated the council "good" during that period, though insisted she was already reforming the system.

There were suggestions that Gilbert was seen as too close to the previous Labour government. A headteacher by the age of 32, she was head of education at Tower Hamlets, where she dramatically improved schools, before being appointed to Ofsted in 2006. She is married to the former Labour minister Tony McNulty.

McNulty lost his Harrow East seat at the 2010 election. He resigned from his government position earlier after press allegations over his expenses.

Muhammed Butt announcing the appointment said:

I am delighted that Christine has agreed to accept the post. She has a wealth of local government experience at the most senior level and will provide inspirational leadership to the council in the months ahead.

Brent is proud of its achievements to date and although already a high performing organisation we are committed to providing even better services to residents under the Council's new leadership team. Residents can expect to see a range of exciting transformations in the quality of services we provide to the local community.

Gilbert is likely to have a major influence on the 2012-13 budget which will include more cuts to local services as well as a possible 2.5% rise in Council Tax.