§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the Court of Appeal decisions in(a) R. v. Brent London Borough Council and others and (b) R v. Oxfordshire County Council's Exclusion Panel and Another on the necessity for Government guidance notes to be compliant with statute and the Human Rights Act 1998; and what future role she envisages for guidance notes. [75212]
§ Mr. Stephen TwiggThe key point of the Court of Appeal's judgment in these consolidated cases, as far as my Department is concerned, is that the legislation enabling the Secretary of State to give guidance to headteachers, local education authorities and appeal panels in relation to the exclusion of pupils from school complies with theHuman Rights Act 1998, and in particular with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to a fair hearing). So far as the guidance applicable to these cases was concerned, the Court went on to hold that neither its content nor the fact that the exclusion appeal panels had a statutory duty to have regard to it in determining the appellant pupils' appeals compromised the pupils' right to a fair hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal. However, the Secretary of State is mindful of the observations which the Court made with regard to using her powers to issue guidance and will bear them in mind when issuing revised guidance.
As to the future, I envisage that the Secretary of State will continue to use her statutory powers to give guidance for the purposes of promoting fairness and consistency in decision-making.