Office of Public Sector Information
PART I continued CHAPTER IV continued
(8) Where it is for the local education authority to determine proposals to which a period of suspension determined under subsection (6) above applies, the proposals shall not be determined until the end of that period; and in such a case section 12(7) of the 1980 Act (which requires the authority to make such a determination within four months after the submission of proposals to the Secretary of State) shall have effect as if for the reference to the submission of the proposals to the Secretary of State there were substituted a reference to the end of that period.
(9) Where proposals to which a period of suspension determined under that subsection applies require the approval of the Secretary of State, he may suspend his consideration of the proposals—
(a) where proposals for acquisition of grant-maintained status for the school are published before the end of the period of suspension, until the end of the period of two months beginning with the date of publication of those proposals; or
(b) in any other case, until the end of the period of suspension.
(10) Where the Secretary of State makes a determination under subsection (6) above in relation to proposals under section 12 or 13 of the 1980 Act made in respect of any school, he shall give written notification of the determination—
(a) to the governing body of the school; and
(b) in the case of proposals under section 12 of that Act, to the local education authority.
(11) The power of the Secretary of State under subsection (6) above shall not apply in relation to proposals under section 12 or 13 of that Act published on or after such date as may be appointed for the purposes of this section by order made by the Secretary of State.
(12) Where—
(a) proposals under section 12 or 13 of that Act with respect to a change in the character or an enlargement of the premises of any school have been approved; and
(b) the school becomes a grant-maintained school before those proposals have been implemented;
those proposals shall be treated for the purposes of this Chapter as if they had been published and approved under section 89 of this Act.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section and section 198 of this Act, on the incorporation date in relation to a grant-maintained school—
(a) the property, rights and liabilities of the former maintaining authority mentioned in subsection (2) below; and
(b) any property, rights and liabilities of the former governing body of the school;
shall be transferred to, and by virtue of this Act vest in, the governing body of the grant-maintained school.
(2) The property, rights and liabilities referred to in subsection (1)(a) above are—
(a) all land or other property which, immediately before the incorporation date, was property used or held by the former maintaining authority for the purposes of the school; and
(b) all rights and liabilities subsisting immediately before the incorporation date which were acquired or incurred by that authority for those purposes.
(3) Subsection (1) above shall not apply to rights and liabilities under any contract of employment; and paragraph (a) of that subsection shall not apply to—
(a) any land or other property vested in the former maintaining authority as trustees;
(b) any liability of that authority in respect of the principal of, or any interest on, any loan; or
(c) any liability of that authority in respect of compensation for premature retirement of any person formerly employed by them or by any governing body of the school.
(4) Subject to section 198 of this Act, any land or other property of the former maintaining authority excluded by virtue of subsection (3)(a) above from transfer to the governing body of a grant-maintained school shall, on the incorporation date in relation to the school, be transferred to, and by virtue of this Act vest in, the first governors of the school on the trusts applicable immediately before that date under any trust deed regulating the use of that land or other property for the purposes of the school.
(5) On the incorporation date in relation to a grant-maintained school—
(a) the duty of the former maintaining authority to maintain the school as a county or voluntary school shall be extinguished; and
(b) any special agreement relating to the school shall cease to have effect.
(6) For the purposes of this section any interest in a dwelling-house which, immediately before the incorporation date in relation to such a school, is used or held by the former maintaining authority for occupation by a person employed to work at the school shall be treated as an interest used or held for the purposes of the school.
(7) In this section “the former governing body” means, in relation to such a school, the governing body of the school immediately before the incorporation date in relation to the school.
(8) In this Chapter, “the former maintaining authority” means, in relation to such a school, the local education authority by whom the school was maintained immediately before the incorporation date in relation to the school.
(9) In this Act, “transfer date” means, in relation to such a school, the incorporation date in relation to the school.
(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, this section applies to any person who—
(a) immediately before the transfer date in relation to a grant-maintained school which is then an aided school is employed by the governing body of the school; or
(b) immediately before the transfer date in relation to a grant-maintained school—
(i) is employed by the local education authority by whom the school is maintained to work solely at the school; or
(ii) is employed by that authority to work at the school and is designated for the purposes of this section by an order made by the Secretary of State.
(2) A person employed by a local education authority in connection with the provision of meals shall not be regarded for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above as employed to work solely at a school unless the meals are provided solely for consumption by persons at the school.
(3) This section does not apply to—
(a) any person employed as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) above whose contract of employment terminates on the day immediately preceding the transfer date;
(b) any person employed as mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above who before that date has been—
(i) appointed or assigned by the local education authority concerned to work solely at another school as from that date; or
(ii) withdrawn from work at the school with effect as from that date.
(4) A person who before the transfer date has been appointed or assigned by the local education authority by whom the school is maintained to work at the school as from that date shall be treated for the purposes of this section as if he had been employed by that authority immediately before that date to do such work at the school as he would have been required to do on or after that date under his contract of employment with that authority.
(5) References below in this section to the former employer are references—
(a) in relation to a person to whom this section applies by virtue of subsection (1)(a) above, to the governing body of the school immediately before the transfer date; and
(b) in relation to a person to whom this section applies by virtue of subsection (1)(b) above, to the local education authority by whom the school is maintained immediately before that date.
(6) The contract of employment between a person to whom this section applies and the former employer shall have effect from the transfer date as if originally made between him and the governing body of the grant-maintained school.
(7) Without prejudice to subsection (6) above—
(a) all the former employer’s rights, powers, duties and liabilities under or in connection with a contract to which that subsection applies shall by virtue of this section be transferred to the governing body of the grant-maintained school on the transfer date; and
(b) anything done before that date by or in relation to the former employer in respect of that contract or the employee shall be deemed from that date to have been done by or in relation to that governing body.
(8) Subsections (6) and (7) above are without prejudice to any right of an employee to terminate his contract of employment if a substantial change is made to his detriment in his working conditions, but no such right shall arise by reason only of the change in employer effected by this section.
(9) An order under this section may designate a person either individually or as a member of a class or description of employees.
(1) This section applies to a school during any period when the procedure under this Chapter for acquisition of grant-maintained status is pending in relation to the school.
(2) For the purposes of this section that procedure is pending in relation to a school when it has been initiated in relation to the school on any occasion and not terminated (as initiated on that occasion).
(3) For those purposes that procedure is to be regarded as initiated in relation to any school on any occasion—
(a) where the governing body of the school have decided to hold a ballot in accordance with section 61 of this Act by a first resolution passed as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) of section 60 of this Act, when the local education authority by whom the school is maintained are first consulted under subsection (3) of that section; or
(b) where such a request as is mentioned in subsection (1)(b) of that section has been received by the governing body, on receipt by that authority of notice under subsection (4)(b) of that section that such a ballot is to be held.
(4) For those purposes that procedure, as initiated on any occasion, is to be regarded as terminated—
(a) in the case of procedure initiated as mentioned in subsection (3)(a) above, if the period of forty-two days after that on which the first resolution was passed has expired and the decision to hold a ballot has not been confirmed by a second resolution passed in accordance with section 60(1)(a) of this Act; or
(b) in the case of procedure initiated as mentioned in subsection (3)(a) or (b) above, if either—
(i) the result of the ballot to which that consultation or notice relates does not show a majority in favour of seeking grant-maintained status for the school; or
(ii) proposals for acquisition of such status for the school which are required to be published by reference to the result of that ballot, or any proposals required in substitution for those proposals, are rejected by the Secretary of State or withdrawn.
Where section 61(8) of this Act applies in the case of any such ballot, the references in sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (b) above to the result of that ballot shall be read as references to the result of the second ballot required by that subsection.
(5) The reference in subsection (4) above to proposals required in substitution for any proposals for acquisition of grant-maintained status for any school which are required to be published by reference to the result of a ballot held in accordance with section 61 of this Act (“W”) is a reference to any proposals required to be published under subsection (4) or (12) of section 62 of this Act on withdrawal or (as the case may be) rejection of—
(a) the original proposals; or
(b) any further proposals required to be published under either of those subsections with respect to the school without a further ballot;
and proposals under that section with respect to a school shall not be treated for the purposes of subsection (4) above as rejected in any case where the Secretary of State imposes a requirement under subsection (12) of that section or as withdrawn in any case where he imposes a requirement under subsection (4) of that section.
(6) Except with the required consent, a local education authority shall not—
(a) dispose of any property used wholly or partly for the purposes of a school to which this section for the time being applies; or
(b) enter into a contract to dispose of any such property.
(7) Subsection (6) above does not apply in relation to a disposal which is made in pursuance of a contract entered into, or an option granted, before the procedure mentioned in subsection (1) above was initiated in relation to the school.
(8) Where in relation to any proposed disposal it is agreed between the local education authority concerned and the governing body of the school that the value of the property in question does not exceed £6,000 the required consent for that disposal (and for any contract to make it) is the consent of the governing body of the school.
(9) In any case other than one within subsection (8) above, the required consent for any proposed disposal (and for any contract to make it) is the consent of both the governing body of the school and the Secretary of State.
(10) A disposal or contract shall not be invalid or void by reason only that it has been made or entered into in contravention of this section and (subject to section 77 of this Act) a person acquiring property, or entering into a contract to acquire property, from a local education authority shall not be concerned to enquire whether any consent required by this section has been given.
(11) This section has effect notwithstanding anything in section 123 of the [1972 c. 70.] Local Government Act 1972 (general power to dispose of land) or in any other enactment; and the consent required by this section shall be in addition to any consent required by subsection (2) of that section or by any other enactment.
(12) In this section and in section 77 of this Act—
(a) references to disposing of property include, in the case of land, references to granting or disposing of any interest in land; and
(b) references to entering into a contract to dispose of property include, in the case of land, references to granting an option to acquire land or any such interest.
(13) Where a proposed disposal forms part of a proposed series of transactions, all disposals forming part of that series shall be treated as one disposal for the purposes of this section.
(14) The Secretary of State may by order substitute for the sum specified in subsection (8) above (whether as originally enacted or as previously amended by an order under this subsection) such sum as may be specified in the order.
(1) This section applies where in the case of a school to which section 76 of this Act applies—
(a) proposals for acquisition of grant-maintained status are approved by the Secretary of State; and
(b) the local education authority have made any disposal, or have entered into any contract, in contravention of subsection (6) of that section (referred to below in this section as a wrongful disposal or, as the case may be, a wrongful contract).
(2) In the case of any wrongful disposal, the governing body of the school shall be entitled to recover from the local education authority concerned the value of the property disposed of.
(3) In the case of a wrongful contract which consists in granting an option to acquire any land or interest in land, the governing body of the school may by notice in writing served on the option holder repudiate the option at any time before it is exercised.
(4) In the case of any other wrongful contract, the governing body of the school may by notice in writing served on the other party to the contract repudiate the contract—
(a) in the case of a contract to dispose of any land or to grant or dispose of any interest in land, at any time before the conveyance or grant of the land or any interest in land to which it relates is completed or executed;
(b) in any other case, at any time before the contract is performed.
(5) A repudiation under subsection (3) or (4) above shall have effect as if made by the local education authority concerned.
(6) Without prejudice to any provision made under paragraph 2(d) of Schedule 5 to this Act, the powers conferred by this section may only be exercised on or after the incorporation date in relation to the school.
(1) During any period when section 76 of this Act applies to a school, the local education authority shall not take any action to which this section applies without the consent of the governing body of the school.
(2) This section applies to the following actions—
(a) the appointment of any person to fill a vacancy in a post which is part of the complement of the school or to work solely at the school in any other post;
(b) the dismissal (otherwise than under section 27(5) or 28(4) of the 1944 Act, which allow foundation governors, within the meaning of that Act, to dismiss a reserved teacher) of any person to whom subsection (3) below applies; and
(c) the withdrawal of any such person from work at the school (otherwise than by dismissing him).
(3) This subsection applies to any person who is employed—
(a) in a post which is part of the complement of the school; or
(b) to work solely at the school in any other post.
(4) The reference in subsection (2)(a) above to the complement of the school is a reference to the complement of teaching and non-teaching posts determined by the local education authority for the school under section 34 of the 1986 Act.
(1) The payments the Secretary of State is required to make in pursuance of his duty to maintain a grant-maintained school are annual grants to the governing body of the school in respect of expenditure for the purposes of the school incurred or to be incurred by the governing body in the financial year to which any such grant relates (to be known as maintenance grants).
(2) The amount of the maintenance grant payable in respect of such a school for any financial year shall be such as may be determined (and from time to time revised) in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State under this section (referred to below in this Chapter as grant regulations).
(3) Grant regulations may also provide for the payment to the governing bodies of such schools—
(a) of grants (to be known as special purpose grants) in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by them of any class or description specified in the regulations—
(i) for or in connection with educational purposes of any class or description so specified;
(ii) in making any provision (whether of educational services or facilities or otherwise) of any class or description so specified which appears to the Secretary of State to be required for meeting any special needs of the population of the area served by the school; or
(iii) in respect of expenses of any class or description so specified, being expenses which it appears to the Secretary of State the governing bodies of such schools cannot reasonably be expected to meet from maintenance grant; and
(b) of grants (to be known as capital grants) in respect of expenditure of a capital nature incurred or to be incurred by them of any class or description so specified.
(4) Grant regulations may provide for special purpose grants to be payable on a regular basis in respect of expenditure of a recurrent kind or by reference to expenditure incurred or to be incurred on particular occasions or during any particular period.
(5) The amount of any capital grant shall be equal to 100 per cent. of the expenditure in respect of which it is made.
(6) The descriptions of expenditure which are to be regarded for the purposes of subsection (3)(b) above as expenditure of a capital nature shall be such as may be determined by or in accordance with the regulations.
(7) A governing body to whom any payments in respect of maintenance grant or special purpose grants are made shall comply with such requirements as the Secretary of State may from time to time impose, being requirements—
(a) specified in grant regulations as requirements which may be imposed by the Secretary of State on governing bodies to whom such payments are made; or
(b) determined in accordance with such regulations by the Secretary of State.
(8) A governing body to whom any payments in respect of capital grant are made shall comply with such requirements determined by the Secretary of State as he may from time to time impose.
(9) Requirements imposed under subsection (7) or (8) above—
(a) may be imposed on or at any time after the making of any payment by reference to which they are imposed; and
(b) may at any time be waived or removed or, subject to subsection (10) below, varied by the Secretary of State.
(10) The power of the Secretary of State to vary such a requirement—
(a) does not apply to a requirement imposed under subsection (7)(a) above; and
(b) is subject, in the case of a requirement imposed under subsection (7)(b) above, to the provisions of the regulations with respect to the determination of the requirements that may be so imposed in the case of payments in respect of the grants in question.
(11) The requirements—
(a) which may be specified in or authorised by grant regulations as requirements which may be imposed on governing bodies to whom payments are made in respect of special purpose grants; or
(b) which may be imposed by the Secretary of State on a governing body to whom payments in respect of capital grants are made;
include in particular requirements with respect to the repayment, in whole or in part, of payments made in respect of those grants if any other requirement imposed under subsection (7) or (8) above by reference to payments of such grants (whether imposed before, at or after the time when the payments subject to the repayment requirement are made) is not complied with.
(12) Subject to—
(a) any requirements imposed by the Secretary of State under subsection (7) above; and
(b) any requirements with respect to the application of maintenance grant contained in the articles of government of the school;
it shall be the duty of the governing body of a grant-maintained school to apply any payments made to them in respect of maintenance grant solely for the purposes of the school.
(1) The times at which, and the manner in which, payments are made in respect of—
(a) maintenance grant for any grant-maintained school in respect of any financial year;
(b) special purpose grants; and
(c) capital grants;
shall be such as may be determined from time to time by the Secretary of State.
(2) Payments in respect of maintenance grant for any such school in respect of any financial year may be made, before any amount has been determined in accordance with grant regulations as the amount of such grant payable for that year in respect of that school, by reference to an estimate of the amount which will be so payable made by the Secretary of State.
(3) Where in respect of any financial year any over-payment of maintenance grant is made to the governing body of such a school a sum equal to the amount of that over-payment shall be recoverable from the governing body by the Secretary of State.
(4) Where any sum is payable by the governing body of such a school to the Secretary of State—
(a) in respect of any over-payment of maintenance grant in respect of any financial year; or
(b) by way of repayment of special purpose grant or capital grant (whether by virtue of any such requirement as is mentioned in section 79(11) of this Act or otherwise);
the Secretary of State may (without prejudice to any other mode of recovery) recover the whole or any part of that sum by deducting it from any grant payable by him to the governing body.
(5) References in this section, in relation to any such school, to an overpayment of maintenance grant in respect of any financial year are references to any amount by which the aggregate amount of any payments in respect of maintenance grant made to the governing body of the school in respect of that year exceeds the amount finally determined in accordance with grant regulations as the amount of maintenance grant payable for that year in respect of the school.
(1) The Secretary of State may in respect of any financial year recover from the former maintaining authority sums in respect of the maintenance grant payable for that year to the governing body of a grant-maintained school.
(2) Subject to subsection (5) below, sums recoverable by virtue of subsection (1) above in respect of any school for any financial year—
(a) shall be of such amounts; and
(b) shall fall due on such date or dates;
as may be determined by the Secretary of State.
(3) The total amount so recoverable shall be such as may be determined (and from time to time revised) in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State under this section (referred to below in this section as recoupment regulations).
(4) Subject to any provision made by such regulations by virtue of subsection (6) below, recoupment regulations shall provide for the total amount so recoverable to be determined by reference to any amount determined under grant regulations as the amount of the maintenance grant payable in respect of the school and the financial year in question (as from time to time revised).
(5) The amount of any sum so recoverable shall be determined—
(a) where before the determination of the amount of that sum any amount has been determined under recoupment regulations as the total amount recoverable by virtue of subsection (1) above in respect of the school and financial year in question, by reference to any amount so determined as the total amount so recoverable; and
(b) in any other case, by reference to any amount estimated by the Secretary of State as the amount which will initially be so determined as the total amount so recoverable;
which the Secretary of State considers it appropriate to adopt for the time being as a basis for determining the amounts of sums so recoverable.
(6) Recoupment regulations may provide for reducing any amount which would otherwise fall to be determined under the regulations as the total amount recoverable from any authority by virtue of subsection (1) above in respect of any school for any financial year by reference to any excess amounts recovered under this section in respect of any previous financial year.
(7) For the purposes of subsection (6) above an excess amount is recovered under this section in respect of any financial year if the aggregate amount of the sums recovered under this section for that year from the former maintaining authority for any grant-maintained school—
(a) in respect of any school in respect of which sums are recoverable from the authority under this section; or
(b) where there is more than one such school, in respect of both or all of those schools;
exceeds the total amount recoverable under this section in accordance with recoupment regulations in respect of that school or (as the case may be) in respect of both or all of those schools for that year.
(8) The Secretary of State may recover sums due to him under this section from such an authority in either or both of the following ways—
(a) by requiring the authority to pay the whole or any part of any such sum at such time or times as he thinks fit; and
(b) by deducting, at such time or times as he thinks fit, the whole or any part of any such sum from any grant payable by him to the authority under any enactment (whether passed before or after this Act).
(9) Any sums received by the Secretary of State by virtue of this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(1) For the purposes of determining the grant related expenditure of a local authority in accordance with Part VI of the [1980 c. 65.] Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980—
(a) the provision of education for registered pupils at any grant-maintained school in respect of which sums are recoverable from the authority under section 81 of this Act shall be regarded as a function of the authority; but
(b) no account shall be taken of the authority’s actual expenditure in any year under that section in determining so much of the authority’s notional total expenditure for that year as is referable to the notional exercise of that function.
(2) Subsection (1)(b) above applies notwithstanding that the whole or any part of the actual expenditure there mentioned falls in accordance with section 3 of the [1987 c. 6.] Local Government Finance Act 1987 to be taken into account in determining the authority’s total expenditure in relation to the year in question for the purposes of Part VI.
(3) In subsections (1) and (2) above—
“local authority” means a body which is a local authority for the purposes of Part VI; and
“year” has the same meaning as in that Part;
and the reference in subsection (1)(a) above to the provision of education includes a reference to the provision of any benefits or services for which provision is made by or under the enactments relating to education.
(4) For the purposes of sections 51 and 52 of the 1986 Act (recoupment for provision for education of pupils belonging to, or having connection with, area of another authority) the provision for education made in any financial year in respect of a registered pupil at a grant-maintained school shall be taken to have been made by the local education authority from whom sums are recoverable under section 81 of this Act in respect of the school and that year.
(5) The reference in subsection (4) above to provision for education includes a reference to provision of any benefits or services for which provision is made by or under the enactments relating to education.
(6) The governing body of a grant-maintained school shall provide the local education authority from whom sums are recoverable under section 81 of this Act in respect of the school with such information relating to the registered pupils at the school as the authority may require for the purposes of claiming any amount in respect of any such pupil from another authority under section 51 of the 1986 Act or by virtue of regulations under section 52 of that Act.
(1) The governing body of a grant-maintained school shall not fix as the number of pupils in any relevant age group it is intended to admit to the school in any school year a number which is less than the approved admission number for that age group.
(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, for the purposes of subsection (1) above, as it applies in relation to any such school—
(a) the approved admission number in relation to any relevant age group is the number specified in the proposals for acquisition of grant-maintained status for the school in accordance with section 62(8) of this Act;
(b) pupils intended to be admitted to the school for nursery education shall be disregarded; and
(c) pupils already so admitted intended to be transferred to a reception class at the school shall be treated as intended to be admitted to the school on their transfer.
(3) The approved admission number in relation to any relevant age group may be varied in the case of any such school with the approval of the Secretary of State.
(1) This section applies to a grant-maintained school which was a county school immediately before it became a grant-maintained school; but the provisions of this section are subject to section 87 of this Act.
(2) Subject to the following provisions of this section, in the case of a school to which this section applies the collective worship required in the school by section 6 of this Act shall be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) above, collective worship is of a broadly Christian character if it reflects the broad traditions of Christian belief without being distinctive of any particular Christian denomination.
(4) Every act of collective worship required by section 6 of this Act in the case of a school to which this section applies need not comply with subsection (2) above provided that, taking any school term as a whole, most such acts which take place in the school do comply with that subsection.
(5) Subject to subsections (2) and (4) above—
(a) the extent to which (if at all) any acts of collective worship required by section 6 of this Act which do not comply with subsection (2) above take place in such a school;
(b) the extent to which any act of collective worship in such a school which complies with subsection (2) above reflects the broad traditions of Christian belief; and
(c) the ways in which those traditions are reflected in any such act of collective worship;
shall be such as may be appropriate having regard to any relevant considerations relating to the pupils concerned which fall to be taken into account in accordance with subsection (6) below.
(6) Those considerations are—
(a) any circumstances relating to the family backgrounds of the pupils concerned which are relevant for determining the character of the collective worship which is appropriate in their case; and
(b) their ages and aptitudes.
Education Reform Act 1988