ASTONISHMENT is sure to greet the news that York engineering firm Jarvis has won a £1.9 million Government contract to rescue failing schools.

Teaching unions were not impressed with the announcement, while Harrogate MP Phil Willis, the Liberal Democrat education spokesman, expressed his own doubts.

Mr Willis said he was concerned that a company with no record in education was to be "trusted with one of the most sensitive areas of educational development". As a former headteacher, Mr Willis clearly understands the problem of education from the inside - and his worries therefore carry a certain weight.

The modern political map can sometimes throw up surprising contours, especially when New Labour continues to plough further into what would once have been seen as Conservative territory. Yet how odd it still sounds to hear that a Labour government is calling on a private engineering firm to work as an educational consultant.

Tony Blair's determination to use all methods, public or private, to improve public services wins him support and distrust. While the Prime Minister's desire to transform health and education is certainly admirable, his tactics can, on occasions, still jar.

So it is with the latest political row. The appointment of an engineering firm to turn round struggling schools was always going to raise eyebrows. Giving the contract to an offshoot from such a high-profile firm as Jarvis was more daring still.

Jarvis played an unfortunately prominent role in the aftermath of the Potters Bar rail crash on May 10 last year, when seven people were killed and 60 injured. The police investigation into the crash is continuing and a decision will be made soon on whether or not to press charges.

With no one yet sure exactly what happened at Potters Bar, it may well be that Jarvis does not deserve to be treated with suspicion. Yet the question still remains whether a company with no record in education is right for such an important job in our most troubled schools.

Updated: 10:52 Monday, April 28, 2003