HL Deb 10 June 1976 vol 371 cc819-24

3.34 p.m.

The MINISTER of STATE, SCOTTISH OFFICE (Lord Kirkhill)

My Lords, I beg to move that the Commons Amendments be now considered.

Moved, That the Commons Amendments be now considered.—(Lord Kirk hill.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS

[References are to Bill (99) as first printed for the Commons]

[Nos. 1 to 10.]

Amendment No.

1 Clause 1, page 1, line 7, after " (1)", insert " Subject to subsection (7) below,"

2 line 7, leave out from " authority " to " a " in line 10 and insert " shall fix "

3 line 13, at end insert "; and any such date may he either a calendar date or fixed by reference to the occurrence of a particular annual event "

4 line 14, leave out subsection (2) and insert— (2) Subject to subsection (7) below, an education authority may, under subsection (1) above—

  1. (a) fix different school commencement dates for different primary schools in their area;
  2. (b) at any time fix a different school commencement date in substitution for any date previously fixed by them under the said subsection (1) "

5 Page 2, line 15, leave out from beginning to first " date " in line 18 and insert— (4) Subject to subsection (7) below, an education authority shall, in respect of each school commencement date fixed by them under subsection (1) above and applicable to a public primary school, fix the latest following

6 line 22, leave out from " whom " to end of line 31 and insert " the authority consider of sufficient age to commence attendance at a public primary school at that school commencement date "

7 line 32, leave out subsection (5) and insert— (5) Subject to subsection (7) below, an education authority may, under subsection (4) above

  1. (a) where a school commencement date is applicable to more than one public primary school in their area, fix in respect of that school commencement date different appropriate latest dates for those different schools;
  2. (b) at any time fix a different appropriate latest date in substitution for any date previously fixed by them under the said subsection (4) "

8 Page 3, line 7, leave out " or (5) "

9 line 11, at end insert— (7) The period between an appropriate latest date applicable to a school and the next following school commencement date applicable to that school (whether or not the school commencement date is that in respect of which the appropriate latest date is fixed) shall not, except with the approval of the Secretary of State on an application to him by the education authority, exceed six months by more than seven days:

Provided that no such application shall be made, nor approval given, in respect of any such period which commences after 31st December 1979."

10 leave out lines 12 and 13 and insert— (8) In relation to any child, " school commencement date "

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, with the leave of the House. I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 1 to 10 en bloc. These 10 Amendments revise Clause I of the Bill, which governs school commencement arrangements. These were Government Amendments tabled at Report stage in another place in the light of an undertaking given by my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office. to reconsider the draftimi. of Clause 1.

Debate of Clause 1 in another place focussed on the requirement that school commencement dates, and in future, the age range of children to be admitted to school on each commencement date. should be subject to approval by the Secretary of State. As I explained when the Bill was originally before this House. commencement and leaving dates are at present both governed by the same section of the Education (Scotland) Act 1962. As it was proposed to introduce new. nationally determined, leaving dates. while leaving commencement arrangements to be decided locally, it became necessary to separate the provisions.

Clause 1 as it originally appeared in the Bill was therefore largely a re-enactment of the existing legislation. The only new provisions (subsections (3) to (7)) simply gave statutory recognition to the current practice, particularly in relation to the increasingly popular single annual commencement date, of requiring an education authority to specify the age range of children they would be prepared to admit to primary school on each commencement date. These new subsections were designed to ensure that the upper age limit of children being admitted to primary school was not unacceptably high. In practice, and I understand this view has received virtually unanimous support, 5 years 6 months has come to be regarded as the maximum acceptable age for entry to Primary 1.

In the course of debate in another place it was suggested that if the basic educational reason for the retention of the requirement that both commencement dates and age ranges on intake be approved by the Secretary of State for Scotland, this would ensure that no child was over 5 years 6 months on starting school. and that this might be written into the Statute in substitution for the Secretary of State's powers of approval. My honourable friend undertook to examine this possibility. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, whose views on school commencement arrangements were quoted widely in debate, were subsequently consulted about the possible courses which might be followed. These were either to retain the requirement that commencement dates and age ranges be approved by the Secretary of State for Scotland, or to substitute a revised section which would require education authorities to fix one or more dates for entry into primary schools in their area, and also to specify an age range of children whom they were prepared to admit to school on age date provided that the child under school age is given the opportunity to commence school attendance at the latest on the commencement date before he becomes 5 years 6 months in age.

The Convention indicated that they were firmly in favour of the latter proposal. The Amendments now under consideration modify Clause 1 to achieve the agreed objectives of securing national minimum standards for entry to primary education, while at the same time giving education authorities maximum discretion to fix their own commencement arrangements in the light of local circumstances. The Amendments reflect constructive suggestions made during proceedings on the Bill and result in what should prove to be a generally acceptable and workable provision. I therefore commend them to your Lordships' House.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.—(Lord Kirkhill.)

Lord CAMPBELL of CROY

My Lords, I agree that these ten Amendments should be considered together because they make a considerable redrafting of Clause 1 of the Bill as it left your Lordships' House. Your Lordships will recall that when the Bill was passing through this House we raised some points on the Government's proposals in the matters on which the noble Lord has been speaking. We also pointed to possible alternatives. Some of these matters were taken up in debates in another place. This led the Government to make these changes to Clause 1, and I can advise your Lordships that the Government's second thoughts on Clause 1 are more acceptable than their first proposals.

Although there has been a considerable redrafting of Clause 1, I see no objection to the changes proposed. However, I should like to raise one drafting point concerning Amendment No. 10. That inserts a new subsection (8) and it seems to me that the present subsection (8) at lines 25 and 26 on page 3 should become subsection (9). Provided that is noted and there is no question of the present lines 25 and 26 disappearing the Amendment is perfectly acceptable.

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, I am much obliged to the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Croy, and I can assure him we shall take note of that point.

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENTS

[Nos. 11 and 12.]

11 Clause 2, page 4, line 24, leave out " child " and insert " person "

12 line 37, leave out " children " and insert " persons "

3.42 p.m.

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 11 and 12. The first Amendment was moved by the Opposition, and the second Amendment was a consequential Government Amendment. Both are merely drafting corrections designed to ensure consistency of reference and to recognise that " child " is perhaps an inappropriate designation for a young person approaching school-leaving age. I therefore commend these Amendments to your Lordships.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.—(Lord Kirkhill.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENT

[No. 13.]

13 Page 5, line 10, leave out " appointed " and insert " established "

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 13. The purpose of this Amendment is to correct a minor drafting error in Clause 5.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(Lord Kirkhill.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENT

[No. 14.]

14 Page 8, line 3, at end insert— (aa) in subsection (2), for the words from " provision with " to " (v), of " there shall be substituted the words " such provision and prescribe such matters with respect to such institutions as may be provided or prescribed with respect to grant-aided colleges in regulations made under ";

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 14. Again, this is purely a drafting Amendment relating to Section 81 (1) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1962, which sets out regulation-making powers under the headings (i) to (v). The Bill in paragraph 11 of Schedule 1, adds a new heading, (vi). That new heading should occur also in Section 81 (2), but this was inadvertently omitted and the Amendment rectifies the situation.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(Lord Kirkhill.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

COMMONS AMENDMENT

[No. 15.]

15 Page 9, line 16, at end insert " Section 72 "

Lord KIRKHILL

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 15. The purpose of this Amendment is to repeal Section 72 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1962, which required the Secretary of State to publish every year a report of his proceedings under that Act during the preceding year.

There are probably many reasons why the report, whatever its merits may have been in 1872 (when a provision of this kind first appeared in legislation), is out of touch with modern requirements. For one thing, a calendar year is the wrong period for most of what is going on. Different aspects of the report would be better related to the school session or to the financial year. For another, the period of up to six months that it takes to prepare and publish a long and miscellaneous report robs a great deal of the content of any topicality. Again, we find that most inquiries need information in greater depth and detail than a report of this kind can normally provide. Finally much of the most interesting material that figures in the report half or quarter of a century ago is now provided in separate non-statutory publications, leaving the statutory report with an excessive load of minor and trivial matters.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(Lord Kirkhill.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.