§ Mr. HanleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about the Education (School Curriculum and Related Information) Regulations 1989.
§ Mr. MacGregorIn the light of representations I have decided to bring forward amendments to those provisions of the Education (School Curriculum and Related Information) Regulations 1989 which cover the submission of statistical information (the annual curriculum return). I gave details of my intentions in my speech to the Society of Education Officers on 25 January, copies of which have been placed in the Library. My proposals will represent a substantial reduction in the burden on primary schools, from which the main anxieties about the annual curriculum return have come.
I intend to bring forward these amendments in time for them to come into effect for completion of the first returns by schools this summer term. I shall be consulting shortly about the details of what I propose, as required by section 22 of the Education Reform Act 1988.