WORCESTERSHIRE'S top education chief, who played a major role in the controversial review of Redditch schools, is retiring in October after seven years of service.

Julien Kramer, 55, was appointed director of education in 1998 and was responsible for setting up the new Local Education Authority (LEA).

This required the restructuring of all the support services, the development of new policies and budgets.

Government teams have twice since inspected the LEA and in 2004 it was found to be 'excellent, with no significant weaknesses'.

In 2001, Mr Kramer was instrumental in the painful Redditch Review, which saw the closure of Bridley Moor High School and 11 other schools in a bid to cut surplus places.