§ Mr. Dykesasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice has been given by his Department to local authorities for administering recently-introduced secondary reorganisation schemes in respect of catchment area policy and the specific criteria for admission to schools for pupils who have had, or have, brothers or sisters in higher classes in the same establishment.
§ Miss Joan LestorNo general advice has been given in this field in recent years. It is for each authority to decide what criteria it will adopt as a general basis for allocating places in its schools, including the weight—if any—which it will give to family connections; the designation of catchment areas is commonly used as a means of orderly and equitable allocation. Successive Secretaries of State have, however, made clear to authorities when necessary that a child may not be refused admission to a school of his parent's choice solely because he lives, or does not live, in a particular catchment area; if the school is suitable to the child, and a place remains available there when children with a prior claim have been catered for, he must normally be admitted.