Office of Public Sector Information

(6)Any question which may arise as to the due fulfilment or observance of any provision or requirement of the foregoing provisions of this section shall be determined by the Secretary of State.

(7)In this section, the reference to section 16(1) or 17(2) of this Act shall include a reference to the corresponding provision of the Act of 1918, the Act of 1946 and the Act of 1962.

Discontinuance and moves of educationalestablishments

22 Discontinuance and moves of educational establishments

(1)Subject to any special conditions attaching thereto. . . F1, an education authority may—

(a)sell, feu, excamb or let any land vested in them; and

(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

(2)Where an education authority propose to discontinue any educational establishment under their management, or to discontinue the use, in connection with such an educational establishment, of any part of that establishment, or of any building or part of a building ancillary to the establishment, and land forming the site, or part of the site, of that establishment or of that part of the establishment or of that building or part of a building, as the case may be, is subject to—

(a)the third proviso to section 2 of the M1School Sites Act 1841 (which provides that, if any land granted in accordance with the provisions of that section ceases to be used for the purposes mentioned in that Act, that land shall revert to the grantor), or

(b)any condition of a similar nature in any Act, deed or other instrument,

the Secretary of State, on the application in that behalf of the education authority, may by order direct that the said proviso or condition shall not have effect in relation to that land:

(3)A direction given by the Secretary of State under subsection (2) above in relation to any land may make provision for the payment out of the proceeds of any sale of that land of any sum which is payable to any person in consideration of the relinquishment of his rights in relation to the land under the said proviso or condition.

(4)If at any time after the expiry of ten years from the transfer of a school under section 16 of this Act, or from the provision of a new school under section 17(2) of this Act, the education authority by whom the school is maintained are of opinion that the school is no longer required, or that, having regard to the religious belief of the parents of the children attending the school, the conditions prescribed in subsections (1) to (4) of section 21 of this Act or in the said subsections so far as applicable and having effect by virtue of subsection (5) of that section, as the case may be, ought no longer to apply thereto,. . . F1 it shall [F2subject to sections 22A, 22B, 22C and 22D of this Act] be lawful for the education authority thereafter to discontinue the school, or, as the case may be, to hold, maintain and manage the same in all respects as a public school not subject to those conditions:

(5)In subsection (4) above, the reference to section 16 or 17(2) of this Act shall include a reference to the corresponding provision of the Act of 1918, the Act of 1946 and the Act of 1962.

Consultation on, and consent for, changes in certain educational matters

[F122A Consultation on certain changes in educational matters

(1)Where an education authority make a proposal of a prescribed kind, they shall, in such manner as may be prescribed, publish it or otherwise make it available and consult such persons as may be prescribed and shall not reach a decision on it without having regard to any representations made to them on it by those persons.

(2)In this section “prescribed” means prescribed for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State by regulations and in so prescribing kinds of proposals the Secretary of State shall include proposals to discontinue or change the site of any school under the management of an education authority.

22B Consent for certain changes in educational matters

(1)An education authority shall submit to the Secretary of State for his consent any proposal of theirs of a prescribed kind and shall not implement such a proposal without his consent.

(2)In this section “prescribed” means prescribed for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State by regulations and the Secretary of State may prescribe different kinds of proposals in relation to different education authorities.

22C Consent for certain changes affecting denominational schools

(1)An education authority shall submit to the Secretary of State for his consent any proposal of theirs to which this section applies and shall not implement such a proposal without his consent.

(2)A proposal to which this section applies is one which—

(a)relates to a school transferred to an education authority under section 16(1) or provided by them under section 17(2) of this Act; and

(b)will, if implemented, have the effect that all or some of the pupils who attend the school will no longer receive school education in a school of the kind referred to in paragraph (a) above or that all or some of the children who would, but for the implementation of the proposal, have been likely to attend it will not be likely to receive such education in a school of that kind.

(3)The Secretary of State shall not grant consent under this section unless he is satisfied that adequate arrangements have been made for the religious instruction of pupils and children who would, as a result of implementation of the proposal, no longer receive or be likely to receive school education in a school of the kind referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above.

(4)In granting consent under this section the Secretary of State may impose such conditions as he thinks fit with regard to the religious instruction of the pupils and children referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) above and to related matters and conditions imposed by the Secretary of State under this section may be revoked or amended by him at any time.

(5)Any question which may arise—

(a)whether a proposal is one to which this section applies;

(b)as to the implementation of a proposal to which the Secretary of State has consented under this section;

(c)as to the fulfilment or observation of any conditions upon his consent imposed under subsection (4) above

shall be determined by the Secretary of State and the education authority shall perform their duties under this Act in accordance with any such determination.

(6)In this section, the reference to section 16(1) or 17(2) of this Act shall include a reference to the corresponding provision of the Act of 1918, the Act of 1946 and the Act of 1962.

22D Further provisions relating to denominational schools

(1)An education authority shall submit to the Secretary of State for his consent any proposal of theirs to which this section applies and shall not implement such a proposal without his consent.

(2)A proposal to which this section applies is one—

(a)which relates to a school transferred to [F1an] education authority under section 16(1) or provided by them under section 17(2) of this Act;

(b)to—

(i)discontinue the school or a part of it;

(ii)amalgamate the school or a part of it with another school;

(iii)change the site of the school;

(iv)change the arrangements for admission to the school; or

(v)disapply to the school the conditions prescribed in subsections (1) to (4) of section 21 of this Act or in the said subsections so far as applicable and having effect by virtue of subsection (5) of that section; and

(c)in relation to which the Secretary of State, having consulted [F2any education authority affected by it], is satisfied, upon written representations made, in the case of any church or denominational body in whose interest the school is conducted other than the Roman Catholic Church, by a person authorised for that purpose by that church or denominational body and, in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, by the Scottish Hierarchy of that Church, that—

(i)if implemented, it will have [F3any of the results] specified in subsection (3) below; and

(ii)the education authority [F4submitting the proposal under subsection (1) above]and the church, denominational body or Hierarchy, as the case may be, have, after discussion, failed to reach agreement that it should be implemented.

[ F5(3)The results referred to in subsection (2)(c)(i) above are—

(a)a significant deterioration for pupils belonging to the area of the education authority submitting the proposal under subsection (1) above; or

(b)a significant deterioration for pupils belonging to the area of any other education authority; or

(c)where neither paragraph (a) nor paragraph (b) above applies, such a deterioration for pupils as mentioned in the said paragraph (a) and pupils belonging to the area of another education authority as, taken together, amounts to a significant deterioration,

in the provision, distribution or availability of school education in schools of the kind referred to in subsection (2)(a) above compared with such provision, distribution or availability in other public schools.]

(5)The Secretary of State shall not grant consent under this section in relation to a school unless he is satisfied that adequate arrangements have been made for the religious instruction of the children who will no longer receive or be likely to receive school education in a school of the kind referred to in subsection (2)(a) above.

(6)In granting consent under this section in relation to a school the Secretary of State may impose such conditions as he thinks fit with regard to the religious instruction of the children who will no longer receive or be likely to receive school education in a school of the kind referred to in subsection (2)(a) above and to related matters and, in doing so, he shall have regard to the duties imposed by section 21 of this Act on education authorities in relation to schools of that kind, and conditions imposed by the Secretary of State under this section may be revoked or amended by him at any time.

(7)Any question which may arise—

(a)whether a proposal is one to which this section applies;

(b)as to the implementation of a proposal to which the Secretary of State has consented under this section;

(c)as to the fulfilment or observation of any conditions upon his consent imposed under subsection (6) above

shall be determined by the Secretary of State and the education authority shall perform their duties under this Act in accordance with any such determination.

(8)In this section the reference to section 16(1) or 17(2) of this Act shall include a reference to the corresponding provision of the Act of 1918, the Act of 1946 and the Act of 1962.]

Co-operation between education authorities and others

23 Provision by education authority for education of pupils belonging to areas of other authorities

(1)An education authority shall have power to provide in or in connection with any public school,. . . F1 or other educational establishment under their management, school education or further education and other services under this Act for any pupil belonging to the area of some other education authority [F2or of a local education authority in England and Wales].

[ F3(1A)Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act, for the purposes of their duty under section 1 of this Act an education authority shall have power to make arrangements with another education authority (in this subsection referred to as a “provider authority”) for the provision of school education or further education for any pupils belonging to the area of the authority in a school or educational establishment under the management of the provider authority.

(1B)Arrangements made under this Act by an education authority for the placing of children in schools may include provision to give effect to any arrangements made under subsection (1A) above.

(1C)Where the arrangements for the placing of children in schools subsisting before the establishment of new local government areas under Part I of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 lead, as a consequence of such establishment, to school education for pupils belonging to the area of one education authority being provided at schools or educational establishments under the management of another education authority, nothing in this Act shall prevent such arrangements from continuing until they are changed by an education authority in accordance with this Act.]

(2)Where an education authority. . . F4 have provided school education with or without other services for any pupil belonging to the area of some other authority, the education authority. . . F4, may, if a claim therefor is made within the prescribed period, recover from that other authority such contributions in respect of such provision as may be agreed by the authorities concerned. . . F4 or, in default of such agreement, as may be determined by the Secretary of State, who shall have regard to the estimated cost of such provision:

. . . F5

(3)The Secretary of State may make regulations prescribing the areas to which particular classes of pupils receiving school education are to be deemed to belong for the purposes of this section [F6and sections 1(5)(c) and (d), 28A(1) (as it has effect under Schedule A2 to this Act), 50, 51 and 60 to 65F of this Act] and any such pupil to whom the regulations apply shall be deemed to belong to the area determined in accordance with the regulations. Any other pupil receiving school education shall, for the aforesaid purposes, be deemed to belong to the area in which his parent is ordinarily resident, and any pupil receiving further education shall be deemed to belong to the area in which he himself is ordinarily resident:

[ F7(3A)Where an education authority’s arrangements for the placing of children in schools under their management give any priority to siblings of pupils attending such schools, those arrangements shall not discriminate between siblings belonging to the area of that education authority and siblings belonging to the area of another education authority.]

(4)Where on 1st January 1947 or at any subsequent date it was or is the practice of an education authority or of the managers of a school situated in the area of that authority to provide school education for pupils belonging to the area of another education authority, then whether contributions have been recovered under section 24(2) of the Act of 1946, section 24(2) of the Act of 1962 or this section or not, they shall not be entitled to discontinue such practice except after giving such notice as the Secretary of State may, in the event of a dispute, consider reasonable.

(5)—(7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F8

24 Power of education authorities to make payments to persons providing education, etc

(1)An education authority may, for the purpose of promoting education generally, or of improving the facilities for education available, or the education provided, for their area in particular, make payments—

(a)to another education authority,

(b)to a university, or to the managers of a hostel or other residence used by students attending a university,

(c)to the managers of any school (other than a public school),

(d)to the managers of any educational establishment (other than a school),

(e)to any other person providing education or educational services,

(f)to any person to assist the carrying out of educational research,

and any such payment may be made either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as may be agreed between the parties.

(2)Where—

(a)it is agreed between an education authority and the managers of any educational establishment, as a condition of the making of payments under subsection (1) above, that the authority shall have representation or additional representation on the governing body of that establishment, but

(b)the provisions of any trust deed or other instrument relating to the establishment will not, unless they are modified, permit provision to be made for such representation or additional representation as aforesaid,

the Secretary of State may, on being requested to do so by the managers of the establishment, by order make such modifications in the provisions of that trust deed or other instrument as may be necessary to enable provision to be made for such representation or additional representation, as the case may be, as aforesaid, and any such trust deed or other instrument shall, so long as the said payments continue to be made, have effect subject to any modifications so made.

Promotion of educational developments

25 Educational research

An education authority may make such provision for conducting or assisting the conduct of research as appears to the authority to be desirable for the purpose of improving the education provided for their area.

26 Educational conferences

An education authority may arrange or organise, or participate in the arrangement or organisation of, conferences or meetings for the discussion of questions relating to education, and may expend such sums as may be reasonable in paying or contributing towards any expenditure incurred in connection with conferences or meetings for the discussion of such questions, including the expenses of any person authorised by them to attend any such conference or meeting.

27 Provision of museums by education authorities

(1)An education authority may provide and maintain museums within their area, and shall have power—

(a)to acquire any objects which, in their opinion, it is desirable to include in a collection contained in a museum maintained by them under this section;

(b)to lend any object vested in them and comprised in any such collection, on such terms and conditions as they think fit, to any person for any purpose;

(c)subject to subsection (3) below, to transfer any object vested in them and comprised in any such collection to the governing body of a museum maintained by a person other than the education authority, for the purpose of being included in a collection contained in that museum;

(d)subject to subsection (3) below, to sell, exchange, give away or otherwise dispose of any object vested in them and comprised in a collection contained in a museum maintained by them under this section, if for any reason that object is not, in their opinion, required for retention in any such collection;

(e)to co-operate with any other education authority or any other body;

(f)generally to do all such things as they may consider necessary or expedient for or in connection with the provision and maintenance of museums under this section.

(2)An education authority may, if they think fit, make such charge as they consider reasonable for admission to a museum maintained by them under this section, and in determining whether, and in what manner, to exercise their powers under this subsection in relation to any museum, an authority shall take into account the need to secure that the museum plays its full part in the promotion of education in their area, and shall have particular regard to the interests of children and students.

(3)Where an object has become vested in an education authority subject to any trust or condition—

(a)that object shall, on being transferred under subsection (1)(c) above, be subject to the like trust or condition in the hands of the transferee;

(b)the powers conferred by subsection (1) (d) above shall not be exercisable in relation to that object in a manner inconsistent with that trust or condition.