§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will list the independent schools that have been struck off the register of independent schools in the past five years, giving the date of when they were struck off;
(2) if he will list the private and independent schools that have received a notice of complaint from his Department within the past five years with the date of issue of the notice and the number made for each school.
§ Mr. ForthIn the five years 1989–94 the registrar of independent schools has caused one school, namely Hilsea college, to be struck off the register in accordance with section 73 of the Education Act 1944.
During the same period, eight schools have been served with notices of complaint under section 71 of the Act. It is not the Government's policy to name schools served with a notice of complaint, unless this leads to a subsequent decision that the school should be struck off the register.
Also, during the same period, 233 schools have voluntarily removed their names from the register. In many cases, the closure of these schools followed official letters from the registrar addressing concerns about standards of accommodation, tuition and other matters which, but for the school's voluntary closure, might have led to a notice of complaint.