§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will list those powers and sanctions she has towards local authorities which refuse to introduce comprehensive education.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonWhere it appears to the Secretary of State that progress or further progress is required to give effect in an area to the comprehensive principle set out in Section 1 of the Education Act 1976, she may, under Section 2(1) of that Act, require the local education authority concerned to prepare and submit, within a specified time, proposals to that end. Under Section 2(4) she may also require a local education authority to submit further proposals in substitution of proposals previously submitted under the section which appear to her unsatisfactory.
Where any proposals under Section 2 are due to be wholly or partly carried into effect within five years, the Secretary of State may direct under Section 3(1) of the 1976 Act that they shall be treated as if submitted for her approval under Section 13 of the Education Act 1944, as amended. Subsection (9A) of Section 13 places a local education authority under a statutory duty to give effect to proposals for the making of a change in the character of a school which is approved under the section.
If the Secretary of State is satisfied that a local education authority has failed to discharge either its duty to submit proposals required under Section 2 of the Act of 1976 or its duty under Section 13(9A) of the Act of 1944 to give effect to proposals, she may make an order under Section 99 of the Act of 1944 declaring it in default of its duty and give such directions for the purpose of enforcing the execution thereof as appear to be expedient. Any such directions are enforceable, on an application made on behalf of the Secretary of State, by mandamus.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science on what dates she approved the three-tier reorganisation of comprehensive education in Retford; when she received the revised two-tier plan from Nottingham County Council; and when she rejected its new proposals.
292W
§ Miss Margaret JacksonThe dates are respectively 5th November 1976, 14th December 1977 and 13th April 1978.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will take action to prevent Nottingham County Council from further delaying the introduction of a three-tier system of comprehensive education in the Retford area.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonIn rejecting the recent proposals for a two-tier system of comprehensive education in the Retford area, my right hon. Friend told the Nottinghamshire Local Education Authority that she would now expect it to implement in September 1978 the three-tier system previously approved by her on 5th November 1976. My right hon. Friend has agreed to a request to meet members of the authority on Tuesday 9th May 1978 to discuss the matter.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will list the public spending she has approved for a three-tier system of comprehensive education in the Retford area; how much of this money has been spent on the Carr Hill and Ordsall schools; and whether the adaptation of these schools has been done unnecessarily.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonThe total estimated cost of the building work necessary for the introduction of comprehensive education in the Retford area is £930,320. Of this, £172,620 relates to the adaptation of Carr Hill and Ordsall Junior Schools for middle school use. This adaptation work is necessary for the proper educational functioning of these buildings as middle schools in the approved three-tier system.