§ Mr. McAvoyTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what powers are available to a regional council education authority to enable it to refuse to make available to 643W councillors the names of persons who have had placing requests for their children rejected by the council under regulation 13 of the Education (Appeal Committee Procedures) (Scotland) Regulations 1982.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe 1982 regulations lay down how the procedures of an appeal committee are to be determined by an education authority. In more general terms, section 50F of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, prescribes the rights of access to documents for members of local authorities. Schedule 7A to the 1973 Act as inserted by the 1985 Act specifies the type of information which is exempt and therefore not required to be open to inspection by members. This includes information relating to the education of any particular child and information relating to any particular applicant for, or recipient of, any service provided by the authority. Interpretation of all of these provisions is, of course, a matter for the authority concerned.