TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS (Hansard, 21 October 1981)

Lords amendment:
No. 29, in page 72, leave out from beginning of line 34 to end of line 4 on page 73 and insert— 2. During any period—

after the date of the coming into force of the provision of section 1(1) of this Act inserting into the principal Act the provision which becomes paragraph (d) of section 28A(3) of that Act; but

before the date when section 4 of this Act comes into force,

§ Mr. Alexander Fletcher
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
Though it is at first sight fairly long and complex, this Government amendment was moved in the other place for technical drafting reasons. It substitutes more precise wording to identify those provisions in clause 1, whose coming into operation is to be taken as the starting point for the transitional period leading up to the introduction of the "special educational needs" provisions of the Bill. During this period the "placing in schools" provisions in clause 1 will operate by reference to the existing system of special education.

Lords amendment:
No. 30, in page 73, line 30, at end insert— 3A. Any consultation made or other thing done by an education authority for the purposes of their functions under Part I of the principal Act before the making of regulations under section 22A(2) of the principal Act which would if made or done after the making of those regulations be consultation for the purposes of section 22A(1) of the principal Act or part of the process of such consultation shall be deemed to be such consultation or, as the case may be, a part of the process of such consultation.

§ Mr. Alexander Fletcher
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
The purpose of the amendment is simply to clarify transitional arrangements to be made in connection with new section 22A inserted into the principal Act by clause 6. As hon. Members are aware, new section 22A requires consultations to be held on proposed changes in education arrangements of a kind prescribed in regulations. It would clearly be both wasteful and unreasonable if consultations or other actions by an education authority, which were in accordance with this new section, but which were carried out before this Bill became law and the regulations were made, had to be repeated following enactment. The amendment therefore provides that, in so far as such consultations carried out before the making of the regulations were in accordance with consultations required to be carried out under new section 22A, they will be deemed to be consultations held under that new section or part of the process of such consultations.
In effect, the authority would not be required to repeat consultations which in the event fulfilled the requirements of new section 22A when regulations under that new section come into operation.