Office of Public Sector Information
PART I continued
(3) The contract of employment between a person to whom this section applies and the education authority by whom he is employed shall have effect from the incorporation date as if originally made between him and the board of management of the school.
(4) A person who before the incorporation date has been appointed or assigned by the education authority by whom the school is maintained to work at the school as from that date (or some later date) shall be treated for the purposes of this section as if he had been employed by that authority immediately before that date to do such work at the school as he would have been required to do on or after that date under his contract of employment with that authority.
(5) Without prejudice to subsection (3) above—
(a) all the education authority’s rights, powers, duties and liabilities under or in connection with a contract to which that subsection applies shall by virtue of this section be transferred to the board of management on the incorporation date; and
(b) anything done before that date by or in relation to the education authority in respect of that contract or the employee shall be deemed from that date to have been done by or in relation to the board of management.
(6) Where—
(a) the contract of employment of a person employed by an education authority includes a term (however expressed) to the effect that the person may be assigned to work at more than one of the schools managed by them; and
(b) by virtue of a direction given under subsection (1)(b) above that contract is to have effect as if made between him and a board of management,
the term shall, in accordance with subsections (3) and (5) above, give the right of assignation to the board, so however that the schools (other than the self-governing school) to which the person may be assigned if the authority agree shall be those to which he might have been assigned had no direction been given.
(7) Subsections (3) and (5) above are without prejudice to any right of an employee to terminate his contract of employment if a substantial change is made to his detriment in his working conditions, but no such right shall arise by reason only of the change in employer effected by this section.
(1) It may be prescribed that only registered teachers shall be employed, or continue to be employed, as teachers in self-governing schools, subject to such exceptions as may from time to time be prescribed.
(2) Section 89 of the 1980 Act (age of retirement of teachers) shall apply to teachers employed by the board of management of a self-governing school as it applies to those employed by an education authority or by the managers of a grant-aided school.
(1) Subject to section 14(2) of this Act, an education authority who have received from a school board written notice under subsection (6) of section 13 of this Act, either of a first resolution or of a request, shall not, until one of the conditions specified in subsection (2) below is satisfied as regards the school—
(a) appoint any person to fill a vacancy in a post (whether teaching or non-teaching) at, or which involves his working solely at, the school;
(b) dismiss any person who is employed in such a post;
(c) alter, or agree to alter, the terms and conditions of employment of any person who is employed in such a post where the like alteration is not made or agreed as respects all other persons employed by them (whether or not at the school) in the same category of post; or
(d) withdraw any person from work at the school (otherwise than by dismissing him),
without the board’s consent; and the obtaining of such consent shall be in addition to any requirement imposed by section 11 of and Schedule 2 to the 1988 Act.
(2) The conditions mentioned in subsection (1) above are that—
(a) in a case where the notice received was of a first resolution, forty-six days have passed since the date of that resolution without the education authority having received written notice, under subsection (6) of section 13 of this Act, of a second resolution;
(b) the result of a ballot held in accordance with section 14 of this Act is not as is mentioned in subsection (1) of section 16 of this Act and two weeks have thereafter passed without the Secretary of State having declared the ballot void under section 15 of this Act; or
(c) proposals published in accordance with subsection (2) of the said section 16 are either rejected by the Secretary of State or are withdrawn without a requirement being imposed under section 18(2) of this Act.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and of the 1980 Act, where—
(a) an education authority are under a duty, or have power (whether by virtue of this section or otherwise), to provide any benefits or services for pupils; and
(b) the duty is to be performed, or the power may be exercised, both in relation to pupils at schools under the management of the authority and in relation to pupils at self-governing schools,
the authority shall not, in performing the duty, or exercising the power, distinguish, as regards the benefits or services provided or as regards the terms on which they are provided, between those two categories of pupil.
(2) The board of management of each self-governing school shall make such reports and returns, and give such information, to any education authority by whom functions in relation to such provision as is mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above are exercisable—
(a) in relation to; or
(b) in relation to pupils in attendance at,
the school as the authority may require for the purpose of the exercise of those functions.
(3) Schedule 6 to this Act, which relates to the provision of benefits and services by education authorities for pupils at self-governing schools etc., shall have effect.
(1) The payments the Secretary of State is required to make in pursuance of his duty to maintain a self-governing school are annual grants to the board of management of the school in respect of expenditure, for the purposes of the board’s functions under section 7(1) of this Act, incurred or to be incurred by the board in the financial year to which any such grant (to be known as “recurrent grant”) relates.
(2) The amount of the recurrent grant payable in respect of any such school for any financial year shall, subject to section 27 of this Act, be such as may be determined (and from time to time revised) in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State under this section (referred to in this Part of this Act as “grant regulations”); and the education authority which maintained the school before the incorporation date shall provide the Secretary of State with such information as he may require of them, for the purposes of his making or applying those regulations, concerning their financial management of the school and of other schools maintained by them and any decisions taken by them regarding the present or prospective such management of those other schools.
(3) Grant regulations may also provide for the payment to a board of management—
(a) of grants (to be known as “capital grants”) in respect of expenditure of a capital nature;
(b) of grants (to be known as “special purpose grants”) in respect of expenditure not of a capital nature, being expenditure which the Secretary of State considers should not be met from recurrent grant,
incurred or to be incurred by them of any class or description specified in the regulations.
(4) The descriptions of expenditure which are to be regarded for the purposes of subsection (3)(a) above as expenditure of a capital nature shall be such as may be determined by or in accordance with the regulations.
(5) The times at which, and the manner in which, payments are made in respect of recurrent grant, capital grants and special purpose grants shall be such as may be determined in accordance with the regulations.
(6) For the purposes of subsection (5) above, the regulations—
(a) may provide that payments in respect of recurrent grant for any school in respect of any financial year may be made, before any amount has been determined in accordance with the regulations as the amount of such grant payable for that year in respect of that school, by reference to an estimate of the amount which will be so payable made by the Secretary of State;
(b) may make provision as regards recovery from boards of management of recurrent grant, capital grants and special purpose grants overpaid.
(7) A board of management to whom any payments in respect of recurrent grant or capital or special purpose grants are made shall comply with such requirements as the Secretary of State may from time to time impose, being requirements—
(a) specified in grant regulations as requirements which may be imposed by the Secretary of State on boards to whom such payments are made; or
(b) determined in accordance with such regulations by the Secretary of State.
(8) Requirements imposed under subsection (7) above—
(a) may be imposed on, or at any time after, the making of any payment by reference to which they are imposed; and
(b) may at any time be waived or, subject to subsection (9) below, varied by the Secretary of State.
(9) The power of the Secretary of State to vary such a requirement—
(a) does not apply to a requirement imposed under subsection (7)(a) above; and
(b) is subject, in the case of a requirement imposed under subsection (7)(b) above, to the provisions of the regulations with respect to the determination of the requirements that may be so imposed in the case of payments in respect of the grants in question.
(10) The requirements which may be specified in or authorised by grant regulations as requirements which may be imposed on boards to whom payments are made, include in particular requirements with respect to the repayment, in whole or in part, of payments made if any other requirement imposed under subsection (7) above by reference to payments (whether imposed before, at or after the time when the payments subject to the repayment are made) is not complied with.
(11) Subject to—
(a) any requirements imposed by the Secretary of State under subsection (7) above; and
(b) any requirements with respect to the application of grant contained in the articles of management of the school,
it shall be the duty of a board of management to apply any payments made to them in respect of recurrent grant solely for the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) above.
(1) For each financial year, recurrent grant payable in respect of any self-governing school—
(a) which is a special school; or
(b) (in the case of a school which is not a special school) in so far as is attributable to expenditure for the purpose of making provision for pupils in attendance at the school who are persons whose needs are recorded by the education authority under section 60(2) of the 1980 Act (record of needs),
shall be determined having regard to the following provisions of this section.
(2) The education authority and the board of management shall attempt to reach agreement as to—
(a) in the case of a special school, what educational and other provision is to be made in the financial year for the pupils in attendance at the school, the estimated cost of that provision and the estimated expenditure incurred or to be incurred for the purposes of the board’s other functions under section 7(1) of this Act in that year;
(b) in any other case, what provision is to be made in that year for such pupils as are mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above and the estimated cost of that provision;
and any such agreement, or a failure to reach such agreement, shall be timeously intimated by the board of management to the Secretary of State.
(3) If intimation under subsection (2) above is of a failure to reach agreement or if the Secretary of State does not accept any aspect of an intimated agreement, he shall himself determine the matters mentioned in paragraph (a), or as the case may be (b), of subsection (2) above in determining under section 26(2) of this Act the amount of recurrent grant payable in respect of the school; and his determination as to the said matters shall (without prejudice to the provision made by the said section 26(2) as to revision) be final.
(4) In determining under section 26(2) of this Act the amount of recurrent grant payable in respect of a school, the Secretary of State shall, where he does not make a determination under subsection (3) above, regard an agreement intimated under subsection (2) above as determining the matters to which it relates.
(5) Grant regulations may prescribe—
(a) what information is to be—
(i) exchanged between an education authority and a board of management for the purposes of their duty under subsection (2) above or for the purposes of subsection (6) below;
(ii) provided to the Secretary of State by the authority and the board for the purposes of his considering any agreement intimated to him under that subsection or subsection (7) below or himself making a determination under subsection (3) above or a variation under subsection (9) below;
(b) the dates by which, in respect of any financial year, such information as is mentioned in paragraph (a) above is to be provided;
(c) the latest date by which, in respect of any financial year, any agreement, or failure to reach agreement, is to be intimated to the Secretary of State under subsection (2) above.
(6) In a case where an amount of recurrent grant payable has been determined in accordance with subsection (4) above, the education authority and the board of management during the course of the financial year—
(a) may agree; and
(b) if the Secretary of State so requires, shall attempt to reach agreement as to,
a variation of their agreement under subsection (2) above.
(7) The board of management shall intimate to the Secretary of State any variation agreed under subsection (6) above or (in the case of a requirement imposed under paragraph (b) of that subsection) any failure to reach agreement as to such variation.
(8) The Secretary of State shall, where he accepts an agreed variation intimated under subsection (7) above, vary the amount of recurrent grant payable accordingly.
(9) Where the Secretary of State does not accept an agreed variation so intimated, or where he has imposed a requirement under subsection (6) above but the education authority and the board of management are unable to agree on a variation of their agreement under subsection (2) above, he may himself vary the amount of recurrent grant payable but he shall not otherwise vary that amount in a case such as is mentioned in subsection (6) above.
(1) The Secretary of State may in respect of any financial year recover from the education authority sums in respect of the recurrent grant payable for that year to the board of management of the school.
(2) Subject to subsection (5) below, sums recoverable by virtue of subsection (1) above in respect of any school for any financial year—
(a) shall be of such amounts; and
(b) shall fall due on such date or dates;
as may be determined by the Secretary of State.
(3) The total amount so recoverable shall be such as may be determined (and from time to time revised) in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State under this section (referred to in this section as “recovery regulations”).
(4) Subject to any provision made by such regulations by virtue of subsection (6) below, recovery regulations shall provide for the total amount so recoverable to be determined by reference to any amount determined under grant regulations as the amount of the recurrent grant (as from time to time revised) payable in respect of the school for the financial year in question.
(5) The amount of any sum so recoverable shall be determined—
(a) where before the determination of the amount of that sum any amount has been determined under recovery regulations as the total amount recoverable by virtue of subsection (1) above in respect of the school and financial year in question, by reference to any amount so determined as the total amount so recoverable; and
(b) in any other case, by reference to any amount estimated by the Secretary of State as the amount which will initially be so determined as the total amount so recoverable;
which the Secretary of State considers it appropriate to adopt for the time being as a basis for determining the amounts of sums so recoverable.
(6) Recovery regulations may provide for reducing any amount which would otherwise fall to be determined under the regulations as the total amount recoverable from an education authority by virtue of subsection (1) above in respect of any school for any financial year by reference to any excess amounts recovered under this section in respect of any previous financial year.
(7) For the purposes of subsection (6) above an excess amount is recovered under this section in respect of any financial year if the aggregate amount of the sums recovered under this section for that year from the authority—
(a) in respect of any school in respect of which sums are recoverable from the authority under this section; or
(b) where there is more than one such school, in respect of both or all of those schools;
exceeds the total amount recoverable under this section in accordance with recovery regulations in respect of that school or, as the case may be, in respect of both or all of those schools for that year.
(8) The Secretary of State may recover sums due to him under this section from the authority in either or both of the following ways—
(a) by requiring the authority to pay the whole or any part of any such sum at such time or times as he thinks fit;
(b) by deducting, at such time or times as he thinks fit, the whole or any part of any such sum from any grant payable by him to the authority under any enactment (whether passed before or after this Act and whether or not to the authority as education authority).
(9) Any sums received by the Secretary of State by virtue of this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(1) For the purposes of section 23 of the 1980 Act (recovery for provision for education of pupils belonging to, or having connection with, the area of another authority) the provision for education made in any financial year in respect of a pupil in attendance at a self-governing school shall be taken to have been made by the education authority.
(2) The reference in subsection (1) above to provision for education includes a reference to provision of any benefits or services for which provision is made by or under any enactment relating to education.
(3) The board of management of a self-governing school shall provide the education authority with such information relating to the pupils in attendance at the school as the authority may require for the purposes of claiming any amount in respect of any such pupil from another authority under, or by virtue of, the said section 23.
(1) Where the board of management of a self-governing school after the appropriate consultation decide, by a resolution passed at a meeting of the board held, subject to subsection (2) below, not less than five years after the incorporation date, to seek a change in the characteristics of the school, other than an increase in the range of provisions which the school has for pupils with special educational needs, the board shall secure that a ballot of parents on the question of whether the change should be made is held in accordance with this section.
(2) With the prior written consent of the Secretary of State a motion for such a resolution as is mentioned in subsection (1) above may be determined at a meeting of the board of management held at a date earlier than subsection (1) above would require.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) above, the appropriate consultation is consultation with the education authority and, where the school is, or the change sought would result in its becoming, a denominational school, with the church or denominational body in whose interest the school is, or as the case may be would be, managed.
(4) Schedule 7 to this Act, which makes provision as regards the arrangements to be made for holding the ballot, shall have effect.
(5) The result of the ballot shall forthwith be intimated to the Secretary of State by the board of management.
(6) A fresh ballot required by a notice under section 15(1) of this Act shall be held in accordance with such conditions, and before such date, as may be specified in the notice.
(7) Where the result of the ballot shows a majority of votes cast in the ballot in favour of the change sought, the board shall, before the end of the period of one month beginning with the date on which the result of the ballot is determined or of such longer period as the Secretary of State may permit—
(a) publish proposals for the change in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations;
(b) submit to the Secretary of State and to the education authority a copy of the published proposals; and
(c) where the school is, or the change sought would result in its becoming, a denominational school, submit such a copy to the church or denominational body in whose interest the school is, or as the case may be would be, managed.
(8) Before the expiry of the period of three months beginning with the date of publication of the proposals any person may submit representations to the Secretary of State as regards the proposals.
(9) The proposals shall require the approval of the Secretary of State; and he may, after the expiry of the period mentioned in subsection (8) above, after considering any relevant representations made under that subsection, after having regard to any representations from the education authority as to the probable effect of the proposed change on the fulfilment by them of their duty under section 1 of the 1980 Act (duty to secure that there be made for their area adequate and efficient provision of school education) and after taking into account such other matters as he considers appropriate including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the percentage that the total votes cast in the ballot which occasioned publication of the proposals constituted of the total number of persons eligible to vote in the ballot and the percentage that the votes so cast which were in favour of the change sought constituted of those total votes—
(a) reject the proposals, having first consulted the board as regards the possible such rejection; or
(b) approve them without modification or, after consultation with the board and the education authority, with such modifications as he thinks desirable.
(10) Where the Secretary of State approves the proposals (whether or not with modifications) he shall, under section 2(2) of this Act, vary the scheme of government of the school to give effect to the change.
(11) Subject to subsection (12) below, neither the board nor any other person shall do or undertake anything for which proposals are required to be published and submitted in accordance with this section until such proposals have been duly approved by the Secretary of State.
(12) The Secretary of State may, pending compliance with any of the requirements of subsections (1) to (10) above, allow such steps to be taken by the board as he considers reasonable in the circumstances of any case.
(13) In subsection (1) above, the reference to characteristics of the school is to the matters stated and specified in the description of the school required by section 16(4) of this Act or, where there has been a change in accordance with this section as regards the school, those matters as so changed.
(1) The board of management of a self-governing school shall not discontinue the school except in pursuance of proposals published and approved under this section.
(2) Where the board of management—
(a) decide by a resolution passed at a meeting of the board (“the first resolution”) to publish proposals under this section for the discontinuance of the school and confirm that decision by a resolution (“the second resolution”) passed at a subsequent meeting of the board held not less than twenty-eight days, nor more than forty-two days, after that at which the first resolution was passed; and
(b) give notice in writing of the second resolution to the Secretary of State and to the education authority,
they may within the period of six months beginning with the date of the second resolution publish proposals for that purpose in such manner as may be prescribed and shall submit to the Secretary of State, to the education authority and, where the school is a denominational school, to the church or other denominational body in whose interest the school is managed, a copy of the published proposals.
(3) The notice required by subsection (2)(b) above shall be given as soon as practicable after the passing of the resolution to which it refers.
(4) The published proposals—
(a) shall specify the proposed date of discontinuance of the school; and
(b) shall be accompanied by a statement—
(i) indicating whether or not any proposals with respect to the establishment of a new school on the premises of the school have been published under section 22A of the 1980 Act (provision for consultation on certain changes); and
(ii) explaining the effect of subsection (5) below.
(5) Before the end of the period of two months beginning with the date of publication of the proposals, any person may submit representations to the Secretary of State in respect of the proposed discontinuance.
(6) The Secretary of State may, after considering any representations submitted under subsection (5) above, reject any proposals under this section, approve them without modification or, after consultation with the board of management and the education authority, approve them with modifications which, without prejudice to the generality of this subsection, may include the substitution of a different date for the date of discontinuance proposed.
(7) If the Secretary of State approves proposals under this section with respect to a school—
(a) the board of management shall cease to manage the school; and
(b) the Secretary of State’s duty to maintain the school shall cease,
on the date of discontinuance specified in the proposals as approved or on any other date subsequently specified by the Secretary of State at the request of the board (whether in substitution for the date specified in the proposals as approved or in substitution for a date previously specified under this subsection).
In the event of a self-governing school which, immediately before the incorporation date, was maintained and managed under section 21(1) of the 1980 Act (management of denominational schools)—
(a) by virtue of a change in characteristics under section 30 of this Act (“change in characteristics” being construed in accordance with subsection (13) of that section) ceasing to be a denominational school; or
(b) being discontinued under section 31 of this Act (at a time when still a denominational school),
such compensation as would have been payable by an education authority under the first proviso to subsection (4) of section 22 of that Act, in either of the events mentioned in that subsection, had the school continued to be maintained by that authority shall be payable by the board of management.
(1) The Secretary of State may cease to maintain a self-governing school by giving notice in writing under this subsection of his intention to do so to the board of management; and on the date specified in that notice as the date on which the Secretary of State intends to cease to maintain the school his duty to do so shall cease.
(2) Subject to the following provisions of this section—
(a) the date mentioned in subsection (1) above shall be at least seven years after the date on which the relevant notice under that subsection is given; and
(b) before giving such notice the Secretary of State shall consult—
(i) the board of management;
(ii) the education authority;
(iii) the parents of the pupils in attendance at the school; and
(iv) where the school is a denominational school, the church or other denominational body in whose interest the school is managed.
(3) Subsection (2) above shall not apply where the Secretary of State is satisfied that as currently constituted or managed the school is unsuitable to continue as a self-governing school on either or both of the following grounds—
(a) that the number of pupils in attendance is too small for efficient and suitable instruction to be provided for them at reasonable cost;
(b) that the board of management have been guilty of substantial or persistent failure to comply, or secure compliance, with any duty imposed on them by or under this Act or any other enactment.
(4) Where the Secretary of State is satisfied as is mentioned in subsection (3) above, he may give the board of management notice in writing under this subsection stating the grounds on which he considers that the school as currently constituted or managed is unsuitable to continue as a self-governing school together with full particulars of the matters relevant to each such ground.
(5) Where any of the matters of which particulars are given in a notice under subsection (4) above is stated in the notice to be in the opinion of the Secretary of State irremediable, the notice shall be accompanied by a notice under subsection (1) above in respect of the school.
(6) Where subsection (5) above does not apply in the case of any notice under subsection (4) above, the notice shall—
(a) state that the Secretary of State intends to cease to maintain the school unless the matters of which particulars are given in the notice are remedied;
(b) specify the measures necessary in the opinion of the Secretary of State to remedy those matters; and
(c) specify the time, not being less than six months after the date on which the notice is given, within which the board of management are required to take those measures.
(7) Where the board of management fail to take the measures required by a notice under subsection (4) above within the time specified in the notice or allowed by any previous notice under this subsection, the Secretary of State shall within the period of two months beginning with the day next following the end of that time either—
(a) give notice in writing under this subsection to the board extending the time within which those measures are required to be taken; or
(b) after consulting the education authority, give notice under subsection (1) above in respect of the school.
(8) The Secretary of State may by notice in writing under this subsection to the board—
(a) withdraw any notice under subsection (1) or (4) above;
(b) vary any notice under subsection (1) above by substituting a later date for the date for the time being specified in the notice as the date on which he intends to cease to maintain the school; or
(c) vary any notice under subsection (4) above to which subsection (6) above applies, so far as relates to the measures required by the notice to remedy the matters of which particulars are given in the notice.
(9) If by virtue of subsection (8)(c) above the Secretary of State varies any notice under subsection (4) above so as to require different measures to be taken he shall substitute for the time specified in that notice as the time within which the board are required to take the measures specified in the notice as varied a time ending—
(a) not less than six months after the date on which the notice of variation is given; and
(b) where the time so specified has been extended under subsection (7) above, not earlier than that time as so extended.
(10) Any variation under subsection (9) above of the time specified in a notice under subsection (4) above is without prejudice to any further extension of that time by notice under subsection (7)(a) above.
(1) Without prejudice to section 1 of the Local Authorities (Goods and Services) Act 1970 (power of local authority and public body to enter into agreement for certain purposes) the board of management of a self-governing school may require the education authority to provide them with any administrative, professional, technical or other services which the authority provide to or in respect of schools under the authority’s management.
(2) An education authority may make such charge as is reasonable for any services which they are required under subsection (1) above to provide; and they shall in determining what charge to make have regard both to the cost of providing the services and to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State in respect of any such charge.
(3) In the event of any dispute arising between the education authority and the board of management as regards the reasonableness of any such charge, the matter may be referred by either party to the Secretary of State, whose decision in that regard shall be final.
(1) In so far as the context admits, functions under this Act of a school board are, for the purposes of—
(a) section 5 of the 1988 Act (advice to boards) matters within the competence of the board;
(b) sections 8(1) (exercise of functions of boards) and 19 (allowances for members) of that Act functions of the board;
(c) section 12(2)(a) (reports to parents) of that Act activities of the board;
(d) section 12(2)(b) (ascertaining views of parents) of that Act matters which are the responsibility of the board;
(e) section 13 (parents' meetings) of that Act activities of the board.
(2) Subsection (1) of section 17 of the 1988 Act (financing of boards) shall apply in relation to functions of a school board under this Act as it applies to such functions under that Act; and subsection (3) of that section shall be construed accordingly.
Self-governing Schools etc (Scotland) Act 1989