§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will allow the redesignation of primary schools as three to 11 year-old schools at the request of local education authorities. [20150]
§ Mr. TimmsWhere a local education authority wishes to alter the age range of a community primary school, by a year or more, it must publish notices to do so after consulting all interested parties, in particular the local early years development and child care partnership. If there are no objections and the proposals are not linked to others to be decided by the local school organisation committee, the local education authority may determine to implement them. In other cases it will be for the school organisation committee, or, where the school organisation committee does not reach a unanimous view, the Schools84W Adjudicator, to decide whether the change can be made. In the case of voluntary or foundation schools it is for the governing body to publish proposals, but the decision-making procedure is otherwise the same. The Secretary of State no longer decides such proposals.