(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, for the purposes of the Education Acts education to which this subsection applies, that is, full-time education suitable to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age who have not attained the age of nineteen years, is further education not secondary education.
(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, for the purposes of those Acts—
(a) education falling within section 8(1)(b) of the [1944 c. 31.] Education Act 1944 (full-time education suitable to the requirements of pupils of compulsory school age), and
(b) education to which subsection (1) above applies provided at a school where education falling within section 8(1)(b) of that Act is also provided,
is secondary education not further education.
(3) For the purposes of the Education Acts education provided for persons who have attained the age of nineteen years is further education not secondary education; but where a person has begun a particular course of secondary education before attaining the age of eighteen years, then, if he continues to attend that course, the education does not cease to be secondary education by reason of his having attained the age of nineteen years.
(4) In subsections (1) to (3) above “education” does not include higher education.
(5) For the purposes of the Education Acts “school” means an educational institution not within the further education sector or the higher education sector, being an institution for providing any one or more of the following—
(a) primary education,
(b) education which is secondary education by virtue of subsection (2)(a) above, or
(c) education to which subsection (1) above applies,
whether or not the institution also provides further education or other secondary education.
(6) For the purposes of the Education Acts, and of any instrument made or having effect as if made under those Acts, “pupil” means a person for whom education is being provided at a school, other than—
(a) a person who has attained the age of nineteen years for whom further education is being provided, or
(b) a person for whom part-time education suitable to the requirements of persons of any age over compulsory school age is being provided.
(1) Before the appointed day the Secretary of State shall by order specify—
(a) each educational institution maintained by a local education authority which appears to him to fall within subsection (2) below, and
(b) each county school, controlled school or grant-maintained school which appears to him to fall within subsection (3) below.
(2) An institution falls within this subsection if on 1st November 1990 its enrolment number calculated in accordance with paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 3 to this Act was not less than 15 per cent. of its total enrolment number calculated in accordance with paragraph 1(2) of that Schedule.
(3) An institution falls within this subsection if on 17th January 1991 not less than 60 per cent. of the pupils at the institution were receiving full-time education suitable to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age who have not attained the age of nineteen years.
(4) On the appointed day a body corporate shall be established, for each institution so specified, for the purpose of conducting the institution as from the operative date.
(5) The name given in the order under subsection (1) above as the name of the institution shall be the initial name of the body corporate.
(6) Where an educational institution, being an institution maintained by a local education authority or a grant-maintained school, has been established since 1st November 1990 or, as the case may be, 17th January 1991 by a merger of two or more institutions existing on that date, the institution shall be treated as falling within subsection (2) or, as the case may be, subsection (3) above if it would have done so if the merger had taken place before that date.
(7) In this section “the appointed day” means the day appointed under section 94 of this Act for the commencement of subsection (4) above.
(1) The Secretary of State may by order make provision for the establishment of a body corporate—
(a) for the purpose of establishing and conducting an educational institution, or
(b) for the purpose of conducting an existing educational institution,
but shall not make an order in respect of an existing institution without the consent of the governing body.
(2) Subsection (1) above does not apply to any educational institution maintained by a local education authority or any grant-maintained school; but if at any time it appears to the Secretary of State, in the case of any educational institution so maintained or any grant-maintained school—
(a) that its enrolment number calculated in accordance with paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 3 to this Act was not less than 15 per cent. of its total enrolment number calculated in accordance with paragraph 1(2) of that Schedule, or
(b) that it is principally concerned with the provision of full-time education suitable to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age who have not attained the age of nineteen years,
he may by order make provision for the establishment of a body corporate for the purpose of conducting that institution.
(3) If at any time a council proposes to the Secretary of State that a body corporate should be established for the purpose of conducting an educational institution which—
(a) is maintained by a local education authority or is a grant-maintained school, and
(b) is principally concerned with the provision of further or higher education or full-time education suitable to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age who have not attained the age of nineteen years,
the Secretary of State may by order make provision for the establishment of a body corporate for that purpose.
(4) The name given in the order under this section as the name of the institution shall be the initial name of the body corporate.
(5) An order under this section shall provide for the institution to be conducted by the body corporate as from the operative date.
(1) In this Act “further education corporation” means a body corporate established under section 15 or 16 of this Act.
(2) In this Part of this Act “operative date”, in relation to a further education corporation and the institution, means—
(a) in the case of a further education corporation established under section 15 of this Act, such date as the Secretary of State may by order appoint in relation to the corporations so established, and
(b) in the case of a further education corporation established under section 16 of this Act, such date as the Secretary of State may by order appoint in relation to that corporation.
(1) A further education corporation may—
(a) provide further and higher education, and
(b) supply goods or services in connection with their provision of education,
and those powers are referred to in section 19 of this Act as the corporation’s principal powers.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) above, goods are supplied in connection with the provision of education by a further education corporation if they result from—
(a) their provision of education or anything done by them under this Act for the purpose of or in connection with their provision of education,
(b) the use of their facilities or the expertise of persons employed by them in the fields in which they are so employed, or
(c) ideas of a person employed by them, or of one of their students, arising out of their provision of education.
(3) For the purposes of that subsection, services are supplied in connection with the provision of education by a further education corporation if—
(a) they result from their provision of education or anything done by them under this Act for the purpose of or in connection with their provision of education,
(b) they are provided by making available their facilities or the expertise of persons employed by them in the fields in which they are so employed, or
(c) they result from ideas of a person employed by them, or of one of their students, arising out of their provision of education.
(1) A further education corporation may do anything (including in particular the things referred to in subsections (2) to (4) below) which appears to the corporation to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of or in connection with the exercise of any of their principal powers.
(2) A further education corporation may conduct an educational institution for the purpose of carrying on activities undertaken in the exercise of their powers to provide further or higher education and, in particular, may assume as from the operative date the conduct of the institution in respect of which the corporation is established.
(3) A further education corporation may provide facilities of any description appearing to the corporation to be necessary or desirable for the purposes of or in connection with carrying on any activities undertaken in the exercise of their principal powers (including boarding accommodation and recreational facilities for students and staff and facilities to meet the needs of students having learning difficulties within the meaning of section 4(6) of this Act).
(4) A further education corporation may—
(a) acquire and dispose of land and other property,
(b) enter into contracts, including in particular—
(i) contracts for the employment of teachers and other staff for the purposes of or in connection with carrying on any activities undertaken in the exercise of their principal powers, and
(ii) contracts with respect to the carrying on by the corporation of any such activities,
(c) borrow such sums as the corporation think fit for the purposes of carrying on any activities they have power to carry on or meeting any liability transferred to them under sections 23 to 27 of this Act and, in connection with such borrowing, may grant any mortgage, charge or other security in respect of any land or other property of the corporation,
(d) invest any sums not immediately required for the purposes of carrying on any activities they have power to carry on,
(e) accept gifts of money, land or other property and apply it, or hold and administer it on trust for, any of those purposes, and
(f) do anything incidental to the conduct of an educational institution providing further or higher education, including founding scholarships or exhibitions, making grants and giving prizes.
(5) The power conferred on a further education corporation by subsection (4)(c) above to borrow money may not be exercised without the consent of the appropriate council, and such consent may be given for particular borrowing or for borrowing of a particular class.
(1) For every further education corporation established to conduct an educational institution there shall be—
(a) an instrument providing for the constitution of the corporation (to be known as the instrument of government), and
(b) an instrument in accordance with which the corporation, and the institution, are to be conducted (to be known as articles of government).
(2) Instruments of government and articles of government—
(a) shall comply with the requirements of Schedule 4 to this Act, and
(b) may make any provision authorised to be made by that Schedule and such other provision as may be necessary or desirable.
(3) The validity of any proceedings of a further education corporation, or of any committee of the corporation, shall not be affected by a vacancy amongst the members or by any defect in the appointment or nomination of a member.
(4) Every document purporting to be an instrument made or issued by or on behalf of a further education corporation and to be duly executed under the seal of the corporation, or to be signed or executed by a person authorised by the corporation to act in that behalf, shall be received in evidence and be treated, without further proof, as being so made or issued unless the contrary is shown.
(1) As from the date on which a further education corporation is established, the instrument of government and articles of government—
(a) in the case of an institution which was a grant-maintained school on that date, shall be such as is prescribed by the order in respect of the institution under section 15 or 16 of this Act, and
(b) in any other case, shall be such as is prescribed by regulations.
(2) Such orders and regulations—
(a) may provide for all or any of the persons who, on the date on which a corporation is established to conduct the grant-maintained school or other existing institution, are the members of the governing body of the institution to be the initial members of the corporation, and
(b) may make such other provision in relation to grant-maintained schools or other existing institutions as appears to the Secretary of State necessary or desirable to secure continuity in their government.
(3) In the case of a further education corporation established to conduct an institution which, on the date the corporation was established, was a grant-maintained school, the governing body incorporated under Chapter IV of Part I of the [1988 c. 40.] Education Reform Act 1988 shall, on the operative date, be dissolved.
(1) The Secretary of State may, after consulting the appropriate council—
(a) if a further education corporation submits a draft of an instrument of government to have effect in place of their existing instrument, by order make a new instrument of government in terms of the draft or in such terms as he thinks fit, and
(b) if such a corporation submits draft modifications of an instrument made under paragraph (a) above, by order modify the instrument in terms of the draft or in such terms as he thinks fit,
but shall not make a new instrument otherwise than in terms of the draft, or modify the instrument otherwise than in terms of the draft, unless he has consulted the corporation.
(2) The Secretary of State may by order modify any instrument of government of any further education corporation.
(3) An order under subsection (2) above—
(a) may relate to all further education corporations, to any category of such corporations specified in the order or to any such corporation so specified, but
(b) shall not be made unless the Secretary of State has consulted the appropriate council and each further education corporation to which the order relates.
(4) A further education corporation may, with the consent of the Secretary of State—
(a) make new articles of government in place of their existing articles, or
(b) modify their existing articles.
(5) The Secretary of State may by a direction under this section require further education corporations, any class of such corporations specified in the direction or any particular further education corporation so specified—
(a) to modify their articles of government, or
(b) to secure that any rules or bye-laws made in pursuance of their articles of government are modified,
in any manner so specified.
(6) Before giving a direction under this section, the Secretary of State shall consult the further education corporation or (as the case may be) each further education corporation to which the direction applies.
(1) This section has effect in relation to a further education corporation established to conduct an institution which, on the date the corporation was established, was maintained by a local education authority.
(2) Subject to subsection (3) below and section 36 of this Act, on the operative date—
(a) all land or other property which, immediately before that date, was property of any local authority used or held for the purposes of the institution the corporation is established to conduct, and
(b) all rights and liabilities of any such authority subsisting immediately before that date which were acquired or incurred for those purposes,
shall be transferred to, and by virtue of this Act vest in, that corporation.
(3) Subsection (2) above shall not apply to—
(a) any liability of any such authority in respect of the principal of, or interest on, any loan, or
(b) any property, rights or liabilities excluded under subsections (4) or (5) below.
(4) If before the operative date—
(a) the governing body of the institution and the local authority have agreed in writing to exclude any land, and
(b) the Secretary of State has given his written approval of the agreement,
the land, and any rights or liabilities relating to it, shall be excluded.
(5) If in default of agreement under subsection (4) above—
(a) the governing body or the local authority have applied to the Secretary of State to exclude any land, and
(b) the Secretary of State has by order directed its exclusion,
the land, and any rights or liabilities relating to it, shall be excluded.
(6) An agreement under subsection (4) above may provide for the land to be used for the purposes of the institution on such terms as may be specified in or determined in accordance with the agreement; and directions under subsection (5) above—
(a) may confer any rights or impose any liabilities that could have been conferred or imposed by such an agreement, and
(b) shall have effect as if contained in such an agreement.
(7) References in subsections (4) and (5) above to anything done, other than the making of an order, include anything done before the passing of this Act.
(8) On the operative date—
(a) all land and other property which, immediately before that date, was property of the former governing body, and
(b) all rights and liabilities of that body subsisting immediately before that date,
shall be transferred to and, by virtue of this Act, vest in the corporation.
(9) In subsection (8) above “former governing body” in relation to an institution means the governing body of the institution immediately before the operative date.
(1) Where in exercise of their powers under section 2 of the [1985 c. 47.] Further Education Act 1985 a local authority—
(a) have entered into an agreement for the supply of goods or services or both through an educational institution, or
(b) for the purposes of any agreement for such a supply through such an institution, hold shares in any body corporate,
and a further education corporation is established to conduct the institution, then, the rights and liabilities of the authority under or by virtue of the agreement or, as the case may be, the interest of the authority in the shares shall be treated as falling within section 23(2) of this Act.
(2) Expressions used in subsection (1) above and in section 2 of that Act have the same meaning as in that section.
(3) Where, immediately before the operative date in relation to a further education corporation, arrangements exist for the supply by a local authority of goods or services for the purposes of the institution in pursuance of a bid prepared under section 7 of the [1988 c. 9.] Local Government Act 1988 (restrictions on activities of local authorities), those arrangements shall have effect as from that date as if—
(a) they were contained in an agreement made before that date between the local authority and the corporation on the terms specified in the bid, and
(b) the agreement required the corporation or, as the case may be, the local authority to make payments corresponding to the provision made in the bid in pursuance of section 8(3) of that Act for items to be credited or, as the case may be, debited to any account.
(4) Where such arrangements are for the supply to others as well as to the institution—
(a) those arrangements shall have effect as mentioned in subsection (3) above only to the extent that they relate to the institution in question, and
(b) the rights and liabilities arising under the agreement shall be such rights and liabilities as are properly required to give effect to the arrangements so far as relating to that institution.
(5) Where at any time land is used for the purposes of such an institution, any interest of a local authority in the land subsisting at that time shall be taken for the purposes of section 23 of this Act to be land held for the purposes of that institution (whether or not it is by virtue of that interest that the land is so used).
(1) This section has effect in relation to a further education corporation established to conduct an institution which, on the date the corporation was established, was a grant-maintained school.
(2) On the operative date—
(a) all land or other property which, immediately before that date, was property of the governing body, and
(b) all rights and liabilities of that body subsisting immediately before that date,
shall be transferred to and, by virtue of this Act, vest in the corporation.
(1) This section applies to any person who immediately before the operative date in relation to a further education corporation established to conduct an institution which, on the date the corporation was established, was maintained by a local education authority or was a grant-maintained school—
(a) is employed by the transferor to work solely at the institution the corporation is established to conduct, or
(b) is employed by the transferor to work at that institution and is designated for the purposes of this section by an order made by the Secretary of State.
(2) A contract of employment between a person to whom this section applies and the transferor shall have effect from the operative date as if originally made between that person and the corporation.
(3) Without prejudice to subsection (2) above—
(a) all the transferor’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 corporation on the operative date, and
(b) anything done before that date by or in relation to the transferor in respect of that contract or the employee shall be deemed from that date to have been done by or in relation to the corporation.
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) 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.
(5) An order under this section may designate a person either individually or as a member of a class or description of employees.
(6) References in this section, in relation to a further education corporation, to the transferor are—
(a) in relation to a corporation established to conduct an institution which, on the date on which it was established, was maintained by a local education authority, that authority,
(b) in relation to a corporation established to conduct an institution which, on that date, was a voluntary aided or special agreement school, the governing body of the school, and
(c) in relation to a corporation established to conduct an institution which, on that date, was a grant-maintained school, the governing body of the school.
(7) For the purposes of this section—
(a) a person employed by the transferor is to be regarded as employed to work at an institution if his employment with the transferor for the time being involves work at that institution, and
(b) subject to subsection (8) below, a person employed by the transferor is to be regarded as employed to work solely at an institution if his only employment with the transferor (disregarding any employment under a separate contract with the transferor) is for the time being at that institution.
(8) A person employed by the transferor in connection with the provision of meals shall not be regarded for the purposes of subsection (7)(b) above as employed to work solely at an institution unless the meals are provided solely for consumption by persons at the institution.
(9) This section is subject to section 48 of this Act.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, the Secretary of State may by order provide for the dissolution of any further education corporation and the transfer to any person mentioned in subsection (2) or (3) below of property, rights and liabilities of the corporation.
(2) Such property, rights and liabilities may be transferred to—
(a) any person appearing to the Secretary of State to be wholly or mainly engaged in the provision of educational facilities or services of any description, or
(b) any body corporate established for purposes which include the provision of such facilities or services,
with the consent of the person or body in question.
(3) Such property, rights and liabilities may be transferred to—
(a) a council, or
(b) a higher education funding council.
(4) Where the recipient of a transfer under any order under this section is not a charity established for charitable purposes which are exclusively educational purposes, any property transferred must be transferred on trust to be used for charitable purposes which are exclusively educational purposes.
(5) In subsection (4) above “charity” and “charitable purposes” have the same meanings as in the [1960 c. 58.] Charities Act 1960.
(6) An order under this section may apply section 26 of this Act with such modifications as the Secretary of State may consider necessary or desirable.
(7) Before making an order under this section in respect of a further education corporation the Secretary of State shall consult—
(a) the corporation, and
(b) the appropriate council, unless the order was made for the purpose of giving effect to a proposal of that council.
(1) The Secretary of State may by order designate as eligible to receive support from funds administered by the councils any educational institution principally concerned with the provision of one or both of the following—
(a) full-time education suitable to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age who have not attained the age of nineteen years, and
(b) courses of further or higher education,
if the institution meets the requirements of subsection (2) below.
(2) The institution must be one of the following—
(a) a voluntary aided school,
(b) an institution (other than a school) assisted by a local education authority, or
(c) an institution which is grant-aided or eligible to receive aid by way of grant.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(c) above an institution is grant-aided or eligible to receive aid by way of grant if it is maintained by persons other than local education authorities who—
(a) receive any grants under regulations made under section 100(1)(b) of the [1944 c. 31.] Education Act 1944, or
(b) are eligible to receive such grants.
(4) In this Part of this Act “designated institution” means an institution in relation to which a designation under this section has effect.
(1) This section has effect in relation to any designated institution, other than—
(a) an institution conducted by a company, or
(b) an institution conducted by an unincorporated association if the order designating the institution provides for its exemption.
(2) For each institution in relation to which this section has effect there shall be—
(a) an instrument providing for the constitution of a governing body of the institution (to be known as the instrument of government), and
(b) an instrument in accordance with which the institution is to be conducted (to be known as the articles of government),
each of which meets the requirements of subsection (3) below.
(3) Those requirements are that the instrument—
(a) was in force when the designation took effect and is approved for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State,
(b) is made in pursuance of a power under a regulatory instrument, or is made under subsection (5) below, and is approved for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State, or
(c) is made under subsection (6) below.
(4) In this section “regulatory instrument”, in relation to an institution, means any instrument of government or articles of government and any other instrument relating to or regulating the institution.
(5) Where there is no such power as is mentioned in subsection (3)(b) above to make the instrument, it may be made by the governing body of the institution and an instrument made by them under this subsection may replace wholly or partly any existing regulatory instrument.
(6) The Secretary of State may by order make either of the instruments referred to in subsection (2) above and any instrument made by him under this subsection may replace wholly or partly any existing regulatory instrument.
(7) If an instrument approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section—
(a) falls within subsection (3)(a) above or was made in pursuance of a power under a regulatory instrument and, apart from this section, there is no power to modify it, or
(b) was made by the governing body of the institution,
the instrument may be modified by the governing body.
(8) The Secretary of State may by order modify either of the instruments referred to in subsection (2) above and no instrument approved by him for the purposes of this section may be modified by any other person without the Secretary of State’s consent.
(9) Before exercising any power under subsection (6) or (8) above in relation to any instrument the Secretary of State shall consult—
(a) the governing body of the institution, and
(b) where there is such a power as is mentioned in subsection (3)(b) above to make or, as the case may be, modify the instrument and the persons having that power are different from the governing body of the institution, the persons having the power,
so far as it appears to him to be practicable to do so.