§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the timetable which governs the process of application for grant-maintained status if a board of school governors recommends that such status should be sought. [16252]
§ Mr. ForthIf the governing body of a school passes a resolution to ballot parents on grant-maintained status, or if it receives a valid petition from parents, it must hold a ballot within 10 weeks. If a majority of those parents who vote are in favour of GM status, the governing body must publish, within four months of the ballot result, statutory proposals for acquiring GM status. There is then a period of two months during which objections to those proposals may be made. My right hon. Friend decides the proposals, taking account of any objections, as soon as possible thereafter.
§ Mr. WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the number of schools likely to apply for grant-maintained status within the next six months; and if she will make a statement. [16254]
§ Mr. ForthThere are currently some 50 schools which have published statutory proposals to become grant maintained following a yes vote in parental ballots, and nine more are in the process of balloting parents. Beyond that, the number of schools applying for grant-maintained status depends on parental choice and we do not try to predict it.
§ Mr. WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many(a) primary and (b) secondary schools have begun the process of seeking grant-maintained status; in how many of those cases parents voted by a sufficient majority in favour of acquiring such status; in how many of the cases of such affirmative votes applications have so far been received by his Department; in how many of those cases of applications received such status (i) was approved, (ii) was denied and (iii) is still pending; and if she will make a statement. [16251]
§ Mr. ForthThe GM process starts when a school decides to ballot parents on applying for GM status. If parents vote yes, the school publishes statutory proposals to become a grant-maintained school. These are considered by the Secretary of State, who may approve or reject them. The following table gives details of ballots and their outcomes in England since GM legislation was first introduced in 1988.
(a) Primary (b) Secondary Number of schools holding ballots 764 944 Yes votes by parents 566 702 Statutory proposals published 561 701 Statutory proposals approved by Secretary of State 494 654 Statutory proposals rejected by Secretary of State 50 39 Statutory proposals under consideration 17 8 Figures exclude special schools and schools established by promoters. Where schools have held more than one ballot, only the outcome of the latest has been included. Where schools have published proposals more than once, only the latest decision has been counted.
462W
§ Mr. WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the grounds upon which an application by a school for grant-maintained status could be refused by the Secretary of State; and in what circumstances under the relevant Act the Secretary of State could defer a decision. [16253]
§ Mr. ForthMy right hon. Friend considers each application for grant-maintained status on its merits and in the light of the relevant circumstances. The reasons for any decision not to approve GM statutory proposals therefore vary from case to case. The legislation does not make provision for the deferral of decisions on GM applications.