LEA sees a reduction in resource. The more fragmented the system becomes the less able an LEA is able to make these telling interventions. So, will central government be able to take on this role? It looks unlikely. A few months ago Sir Michael Wilshaw himself addressed the issue of support for schools. He made it clear that Ofsted could not fill the gap -- there was not way it could -- or should -- take on some of the roles and functions of local authorities. So, who might? Sir Michael has talked about the establishment of educational commissioners, people who would take on both the support and the regulatory role of LEAs, but it is not clear who these people might be.  The early days of OFSTED utilised an army of early retired educationalists but any new service today is likely to be let under national framework contracts to the big educational and management consultancies. I suspect that such a system would be an anathema to many schools and parents. Once again we can see the practical importance of a Local Education Authority and once again we can see real problems being derived from the ideological assault on local democracy. I'll leave my final comments for the media that cover this story. They should be asking Si Michael two questions. Firstly, what can he and his team do about it? Secondly, what should central government be doing about it? The more devolved a system becomes the more subtle it