§ Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he will issue guidance on the way in which the governing bodies of further education colleges should be reformed so as to meet the requirements of clauses 132 and 133 of the Education Reform Bill; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerI am today issuing draft guidance which sets out how I would expect college governing bodies to be reformed and their instruments of government revised in order to meet the requirements of clauses 132 and 133 of the Education Reform Bill if it receives 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 The draft guidance is being issued now in order to inform discussion of the further education clauses during the remaining stages of the Bill's passage through Parliament, to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 reconstitution of governing bodies as envisaged by the Bill, and to give all concerned an early opportunity to comment. Draft guidance on the provisions I would expect to see contained in the planning and delegation schemes envisaged by clause 121 of the Bill was issued on 21 April.
Copies of the draft guidance have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and in the Vote Office. 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 22 July 1988.