SWINDON'S director of education Mike Lusty has finally decided to retire after a turbulent year in which his department has been deemed to be failing by Government inspectors.

It was performing so badly that an academic from Bath University and officials from Hampshire County Council were brought in to help.

The critical report that brought on the crisis in the education department was released in September. Yet the only person to fall on his own sword at that time was Chris Eley, a senior councillor with responsibility for education.

That Dr Lusty and his colleague Ian Bennett should wait to retire until now may surprise some people. Clearly they felt they had a duty to stay on and oversee the change in administration that will bring fresh faces, possibly from the private sector, to take on the role of running our schools.

We, like the council leaders who attended a private meeting with Dr Lusty and Mr Bennett last night, wish them well. They are both very likeable gentlemen who have been open and frank about the difficult situation they and the council have found themselves in since the critical report.

But let's not forget the criticisms of them made by those Government inspectors that they, together with some councillors, were failing the children and teachers of Swindon and that they helped create a climate of confusion, suspicion and mistrust.

And let's learn from their mistakes to ensure Swindon Council's education department is better run in the future.