A troubled local authority has drafted in two multi-academy trust leaders on part-time secondments to lead its education services. Experts said greater trust-council collaboration was welcome, and noted academisation was increasingly hollowing out council expertise in education. Devon County Council recently brought many of its education services back in-house after the end of a decade-long outsourcing deal. It said this would enable a 鈥渕ore cohesive SEND offer鈥, and help to cut costs by reducing demand for education and health care plans. Council chiefs began cost-cutting this month to plug an . They were also recently threatened with government intervention in their services for children with special educational needs and disabilities. In July, inspectors said Devon had failed to sufficiently tackle 鈥渟ignificant weaknesses鈥 identified four years earlier. In-sourcing will also help Devon to fulfil ongoing statutory duties, which have withered away less than expected when work was contracted out in 2012 as academisation began. This month Rachel Shaw, the chief executive of Exeter Learning Academy Trust, and Matthew Shanks, who leads Education South West, began as joint interim heads of education. They will 鈥渟upport the new integrated department鈥, the council said. Shaw said her focus was on 鈥渉ow our services support the most vulnerable鈥, and making 鈥渂est use of available resources鈥. Shanks said his focus was 鈥渙utcomes鈥, particularly closing the disadvantage gap, and delivering on the schools white paper. But he played down the idea the two appointments might presage an academisation drive. Both applied unprompted to an open job advert and linked their success more to their backgrounds leading 鈥 and merging 鈥 Devon鈥檚 primary and secondary head associations. Shanks works two days a week for the council, and Shaw three, under an initial one-year agreement. 鈥淲e have busy day jobs, but felt compelled out of civic duty. Devon are doing something different in using school leaders鈥 experiences.鈥 Shaw said they could offer 鈥渙n-the-ground鈥 perspectives on safeguarding, attendance and other services. A council spokesperson called the pair 鈥渉ighly respected senior leaders鈥. Processes were in place to avoid council business involving their schools coming 鈥渁nywhere near鈥 them, Shanks said. Andrew Pilmore Andrew Pilmore, a school improvement director at consultancy DRB, said such appointments could reflect councils being 鈥渄epleted of expertise鈥 since academisation. 鈥淔or councils restarting improvement teams, it鈥檚 almost inevitable those with recent, demonstrable track records are in successful MATs.鈥 John Fowler, a policy manager at the Local Government Intelligence Unit, agreed, saying many councils hired education leaders with social work or non-education backgrounds, and management consultants. Pilmore said a more 鈥渏oined-up鈥 sector was important, to share best practice and avoid smaller MATs 鈥渂ecoming insular鈥. Shaw noted Devon had high levels of not only academisation, but also collaboration through MATs and, previously, federations. Dan Morrow, the chief executive of Dartmoor MAT, said local leaders welcomed the new appointments, with communication and collaboration improving already. 鈥淚t鈥檚 system leadership based on shared purpose and priorities, not previous designation or affiliation.鈥