§ 40. Mr. Butcherasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he plans to take over those local education authorities which have given a blanket refusal for children from their maintained schools to transfer to the sixth form of independent schools within the assisted places scheme.
§ Mr. Mark CarlisleI very much regret the hostility shown by some local education authorities towards the additional opportunities being offered to children by the assisted places scheme. The Education (Assisted Places) Regulations 1980, which the House approved on 29 October, provide that at sixth form level transfer to an assisted place from a local maintained school will normally require the agreement of the maintaining authority. But if it appeared that a substantial number of authorities were refusing to allow children to move to assisted places regardless of individual circumstances I should be prepared to consider amending the regulations to remove the power of veto. I shall be keeping this point under review.
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