§ Mr. RathboneTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he will issue guidance on the provisions he would expect to be contained in the planning and delegation schemes for further education which local education authorities will be required to prepare under clause 121 of the Education Reform Bill; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerI am today issuing draft guidance on the provisions which I would expect to be contained in the schemes which local education authorities would be required to prepare under clause 121 of the Education Reform Bill if it receive Royal Assent in its present form. The draft guidance is being issued now in order to inform discussion of the further education clauses during the remaining stages of the Bill's passage through Parliament: to help local education authorities, colleges and others to prepare for the introduction of the further education planning, budget-setting and delegation procedures envisaged by the Bill; and to give all concerned an early opportunity to comment.
Copies of the draft guidance have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. They are also being sent to local education authorities, further and higher education colleges, and a range of interested bodies, with a request for any comments by 15 July 1988.