Government appoints interim replacement for schools chief

The government has appointed Ruth Thomspon as interim head of Partnerships for Schools after confirming the departure of Tim Byles.

Building.co.uk revealed yesterday that Byles, who has headed delivery agency PFS for four and a half years, was to step down from the organisation at the end of May.

The Department for Education has since confirmed his exit, and has said that Thompson, the former director general of higher education at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, will become interim chief executive of PfS.

In a letter to Byles, released by the DfE, education secretary Michael Gove thanked Byles for his “longstanding and passionate commitment to public service” and for “excellent” work at PfS. He also praised the Transformation Trust, the education charity of which Byles is a trustee, and which is likely to benefit from money raised by his new development venture.