Last year, a group of schools in Birmingham found themselves at the centre of a national scandal. It was alleged that there was a plot by hard-line Muslims to seize control of a number of school governing boards. Several of the schools in question had previously been rated outstanding by the schools watchdog Ofsted, but were promptly downgraded to special measures. The story spiralled from a matter of school governance and into a national debate about extremism and radicalisation. Then education secretary Michael Gove angered Muslim communities when he spoke of the need to “drain the swamp” of extremist Muslims. A total of four separate investigations were held to establish what went on. One, controversially, was headed by Peter Clarke, the Metropolitan Police’s former head of counter-terrorism.

This week, a report by the House of Commons’ education select committee has been sharply critical of the official response to the allegations, noting a “worrying and wasteful lack of co-ordination” between the four enquiries. It also stresses that there was very little evidence of extremism at any of the schools, even the five that were placed in special measures. It places the focus on schools reform, pointing out that academies – which are more autonomous than traditional state schools –are vulnerable to efforts by groups of similarly minded people to control schools.

Launching the report, Graham Stuart, Conservative MP and chair of the cross-party committee, was highly critical of the way the investigation was handled:

"One incident apart, no evidence of extremism or radicalisation was found by any of the inquiries in any of the schools involved. Neither was there any evidence of a sustained plot, nor of significant problems in other parts of the country. The Trojan Horse affair is less about extremism than about governance and the ability of local and central agencies to respond to whistle-blowers and to correct abuses of power within schools.

“We found a worrying and wasteful lack of co-ordination between the various inquiries carried out by the Department for Education, Birmingham City Council, the Education Funding Agency, Ofsted and others. In the case of the Birmingham schools, the number of overlapping inquiries contributed to the sense of crisis and confusion.

“Questions have been raised about the appropriateness of Ofsted’s framework and the reliability and robustness of its judgements. Ofsted must act to restore confidence in the inspectorate.

“The British values which are now to be promoted in all schools are universal and deserving of support. Monitoring how these are promoted in individual schools must be done with common sense and sensitivity."

For background on what happened in Birmingham’s schools, see this long report from our Autumn 2014 issue.