HC Deb 21 October 1981 vol 10 cc324-5
Lords amendment:

No. 22, in page 32, line 30, leave out or any part of such a school

Mr. Alexander Fletcher

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.

The amendment clears up a point raised by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, which indicated that new section 22A(2), which requires the Secretary of State to prescribe proposals for closure or change of site of a part of a school, could be interpreted to mean a physical part such as a hut or annex. It is not our intention that such proposals must be the subject of consultation. Under the present legislation, education authorities are required to submit to my right hon. Friend for approval any proposals to alter the stages of education in a school such as the removal of S5 or S6 in secondary schools; but the removal of a part of a school in the physical sense, such as a hut or annex, is entirely a matter for the education authority. We do not consider, therefore, that it would be appropriate to prescribe in regulations made under new section 22A(2), which in part replace the Secretary of State's present controls over proposed changes in educational arrangements, that consultations must be held on the removal of a hut or annex from a school.

Question put and agreed to.

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