§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what guidance he has given as to whether, under sections 13 and 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, in determining political balance on an education committee of a local education authority a council should treat non-elected members of the committee as members of(a) the opposition, (b) the majority party or (c) an addition to both.
§ Mr. FallonNon-elected members of an education committee are not members of the authority. They are disregarded for the purposes of determining the proportion of seats allocated to political groups in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990. Where, however, a political group has a majority of seats on an authority, that group is entitled to a majority over all other voting members (elected and non-elected) on the education committee.