HL Deb 23 June 1998 vol 591 cc16-7WA
Baroness David

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Which forms of early years care and education, both in institutions and in non-institutional settings, are not included in the definitions of "school" and of "specified nursery education" in clause 121 of the School Standards and Framework Bill. [HL2285]

The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Baroness Blackstone)

Clause 121 of the School Standards and Framework Bill applies to schools defined in section 4(1) of the Education Act 1996 (as amended): every institution for providing primary education, secondary education, or both primary and secondary education which is outside the further education sector and the higher education sector. Independent schools are included in that definition.

The clause also applies to children receiving education suitable for children under compulsory school age not in a school but provided: by a local education authority; by those receiving government grant under present or future funding arrangements for early years development plans; or in any educational institution which falls outside the definition of school only because no full-time primary education is provided there.

It does not apply to persons or institutions providing only child care and not education.