§ 17. Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the current situation with regard to the parents' charter and freedom of choice in the education of children in Scotland.
§ Mr. Allan StewartThe provisions of the Education (Scotland) Act 1981 give parents the right to choose which education authority school they wish their children to attend and impose on authorities the duty to grant such placing requests except in limited circumstances. The value of these provisions is shown by the fact that until the end of July 1983, the latest date for which information is available, some 27,500 placing requests had been submitted of which almost 27,000 were successful.