§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to issue guidance on grant-maintained status for schools under the provisions of chapter IV of the Education Reform Bill.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerDraft guidance is being issued today. Its purpose is to inform discussion of this topic during the remaining stages of the Bill's passage through Parliament; to guide local education authorities, the governing bodies of schools, and others in any preparatory work they wish to undertake; and to give all concerned an early opportunity to comment. The draft covers all the provisions in chapter IV of the Bill save the provision in respect of postal ballots of parents, which in particular is subject to further consideration by Parliament, and on which guidance will be issued later.
Comments on the draft guidance are invited by 21 September 1988. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and in the Vote Office.