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For a summary of the report, scroll to the bottom of this page.
In response to comments made by Professor John Howson (author of The state of the labour market for senior staff in schools in England and Wales, 2005-6) that the Catholic Church is "short-changing" pupils and parents by failing to address the difficulties surrounding leadership recruitment, the CES issued the following statement to the Press Association:
The Catholic community takes the challenge of securing school leaders very seriously. It has established a ‘Nurturing Future Leaders Group’ with this in mind.
The Catholic Education Service is very pleased to be working closely with the National College for School Leadership as a member of its Advisory Board on Succession Planning, and in other collaborative activities. The involvement of Hallam and Hexham & Newcastle dioceses in the national succession planning pilot project is a clear example of our commitment to securing future leaders.
Dioceses across England and Wales are running a series of courses for aspiring headteachers, deputy headteachers and middle-leaders: perhaps Professor Howson is unaware of the numerous strategies adopted across the Catholic dioceses of England and Wales to support and develop leadership talent. Some of these are listed below:
· Archdiocese of Birmingham and Diocese of Nottingham have developed close links with the NCSL and developed a leadership course that is now five years old. This is impacting on the quality and scope of candidates coming forward for interview.
· North Eastern Dioceses are working collaboratively to develop potential head teachers and sustain existent heads in post through the development of three-week sabbatical for serving headteachers.
· In Clifton and Arundel & Brighton Dioceses, there is a shared strategy of targeting “resting teachers” through parish newsletters and personal contact of parish clergy. In A&B, eighteen out of thirty teachers approached have now returned to Catholic schools.
· In North Western Dioceses, there is a joint commitment to supporting teachers as soon as they enter profession, building confidence and “demystifying” leadership. They ensure through strategic planning that dioceses can increase “leadership capacity” through federation initiative. A significant amount of time has been spent in individual discussions between teachers and diocesan schools’ officers.
· The Archdioceses of Westminster, Southwark and the Diocese of Brentwood work individually and collaboratively in providing courses for subject leaders, aspiring deputy headteachers and headteachers.
The Catholic community is increasingly aware of the need to foster future school leaders and the Catholic Education Service believes Professor Howson’s report not only provides thought provoking material, but merits detailed study.
In July 2006, this amounted to over three hundred and sixty conversations. | 
