§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the local management of schools arrangements in Catholic primary schools in Liverpool which have separate infant and junior departments, but one governing body.
§ Mr. FallonIt is for the LEA to decide whether a primary school with two departments should be regarded as one school or two. If a voluntary school which is so organised disputes the authority's view that it is a single school, it is open to the governors to apply to the Secretary of State for Education and Science for a division order under section 2 of the Education Act 1946.
In its LMS scheme, Liverpool local education authority lists most of its primary schools, including all but two of its Catholic primary schools, as single schools. This means that such schools are allocated one school budget which is based primarily on the total number of pupils in both departments.