GENERAL DUTY IN PUBLIC SECTOR OF EDUCATION (Hansard, 18 June 1975)

§ Miss Joan Lestor
I beg to move Amendment No. 38, in page 17, line 41, leave out 'responsible'

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Myer Galpern)
With this amendment we may discuss Government Amendments Nos. 39 and 40.

§ Miss Lester
These are mainly drafting amendments. The word "responsible" is superfluous, and could be misleading by giving the impression that Section 71 of the 1971 Act applies only to the performance of certain duties by anybody mentioned in subsection (5)(c), and not by an education authority.
Amendment No. 39 is to remove words which were appropriate at an earlier stage of drafting but are no longer so. The words proposed to be omitted could give the impression that there could be some sanction for a breach of the duty imposed by Clause 25(1). This is not so since the principle is that the only sanction for breach of the general duty imposed by Clause 25(1) should be default action by the Secretary of State under Section 71 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1962 as applied by Clause 25(3). These words should, therefore, be deleted.
Amendment No. 40 is a drafting amendment. Clause 26(1)(b) makes special provision for educational establishments which are provided mainly for pupils of one sex but admit a few pupils of the other sex to a particular course or class. The governing body of such an establishment will be permitted to discriminate to the extent—and only to the extent—that these few pupils will be confined to the particular course or class to which they are admitted. Sub-section (3) as drafted disapplies the provision in Clause 22 which would otherwise make it unlawful to do this. The amendment disapplies Clause 25, which would make it a breach of the general duty imposed by that clause.