§ 25. Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what communications she has sent to local education authorities in connection with the exercise of her powers concerning comprehensive education contained in the Education Act 1976.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsOn 24th November I wrote to eight local education authorities—Bexley, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Kingston upon Thames, Redbridge, Sutton, Tameside and Trafford—requiring them, under Section 2 of the Education Act 1976, to submit within six months proposals for the abolition of selection in their areas. In addition, on 25th November, two circulars were issued by my Department. One—Circular 11/76—reproduced the text of the remarks I made to the House on that day about the Education Act 1976. The other—Circular 12/76—drew attention to the provisions of Section 5 of the Act and required authorities to submit information about existing arrangements and proposed future arrangements for the support of education at non-maintained schools.