§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will introduce changes to the system of independent appeal panels. [75623]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggSection 52 of theEducation Act 2002 replaces the previous arrangements for exclusion appeal panels which have been in existence in various forms since being introduced by the Education (No 2) Act 1986.
The new arrangements will be set out in regulations under section 52 which we plan to lay before the House in time to come into force in January 2003.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many exclusions have been overturned on appeal in the last six months. [75624]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggInformation on exclusion appeals is only collected on an annual basis. The latest figures available are for the 2000/01 school year, when 9,210 permanent exclusions gave rise to 983 appeals. 314 permanent exclusions were overturned on appeal—3 per cent. of the total number of permanent exclusions.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what legal powers she has to overturn a decision by an independent appeal panel. [75622]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggThe Secretary of State has no legal powers to overturn a decision by an independent appeal panel.
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§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what changes there have been to the monthly average of(a) exclusions, (b) appeals and (c) successful appeals since the publication of the 2001–02 Education Bill. [75625]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggThis information is not held centrally. My Department collects data on permanent exclusions and exclusion appeals annually in relation to the school year as a whole. Provisional data for the last school year—2001–02—will be published in a Statistical First Release in May 2003.