Essex County Council's director of education has been named the first regional schools commissioner for the North-East London and East region.

The new position has been created to monitor the performance of academies, and take decisions about the opening of new academies, and followed concerns about the capacity of the Department for Education to deal with the nearly 4,000 academies across England directly accountable to it.

Tim Coulson, who was previously headteacher of William Tyndale School in Islington will take up the post later this year.

He will work with new national schools commissioner, Frank Green, and education secretary Michael Gove

His remit will cover more than 450 academies in Barking and Dagenham, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Newham, Norfolk, Peterborough, Redbridge, Southend on Sea, Suffolk, Thurrock, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

He said: 'I expect to build on the experience in Essex where schools have led the way with innovative developments of academy trusts that have enabled strong schools to take a wider leadership role.

'I am keen to work closely with the head teachers on the new regional boards and expect to see the region quickly improve.'

According to Department for Education data published this month, there are currently 53 academies in Norfolk, 42 in Suffolk, and 58 in Cambridgeshire.