Office of Public Sector Information
(1) An education authority are to establish a procedure by which a person, or someone acting on a person’s behalf, may make complaints (or other representations) in relation to the exercise by the authority of, or failure by them to exercise, any of their functions under this Act in respect of the person.
(2) Before establishing a procedure under subsection (1), the authority must consult–
(a) the parents to whom their duties under sections 1, 5 and 12 relate,
(b) any Parent Council established for a school in their area,
(c) any Combined Parent Council established for schools in their area, and
(d) any other person who appears to the authority to have an interest in their implementation of those duties,
on the authority’s proposals in that regard.
(3) The authority are to keep the procedure so established by them under review and must vary that procedure whenever they consider it appropriate to do so.
(4) The authority are to give such publicity to that procedure, including that procedure as varied under subsection (3), as they consider appropriate and must give a copy of the procedure to any person who requests it (at no cost to that person).
(1) With the requisite consent, the members of the Parent Forums of two or more schools in the area of an education authority may decide that a body (to be known as a “Combined Parent Council”) should be established for both, or as the case may be all, of the schools (in this section and in section 17 referred to as the “represented schools”).
(2) In subsection (1), “requisite consent”–
(a) is consent obtained after each member of the Parent Forum in each of the represented schools has been given written notice of the proposed decision with an invitation to the member in question to indicate, within such reasonable time as the proposer may specify in the invitation, whether the member agrees that the decision be taken, and
(b) is the consent of, in each of those schools, the majority of such members of the parent forum as respond timeously to that invitation.
(3) It is immaterial, for the purposes of this section, whether as respects any of the represented schools a scheme for the establishment of a Parent Council is being, or has been, prepared or a Parent Council has been established.
(4) Except that any such Parent Council ceases to exist when the Combined Parent Council is established.
(5) Where by virtue of subsection (4) a Parent Council ceases to exist, any property belonging to it passes to the Combined Parent Council.
(6) If a decision is made under subsection (1), the education authority are–
(a) to prepare a scheme for the establishment, by the Parent Forums, of the Combined Parent Council,
(b) to send a copy of that scheme to each of the members of the Parent Forums, and
(c) to make such arrangements as are necessary to implement the scheme.
(7) The arrangements mentioned in subsection (6)(c) must include the preparation of a constitution for the Combined Parent Council.
(8) A Combined Parent Council is established when first constituted by virtue of arrangements made under subsection (6); and is, as soon as practicable thereafter–
(a) to intimate to–
(i) the headteachers of the represented schools,
(ii) the members of the Parent Forums,
(iii) pupils in attendance at the represented schools, and
(iv) such other persons as it appears to the council appropriate to include for the purposes of this subsection,
that it has been established,
(b) to provide them and the education authority with information as to who the members of the council are and as to how to communicate with it, and
(c) to provide each of the headteachers of the represented schools with a copy of that constitution.
(9) The Combined Parent Council is itself to determine the name by which it is to be known.
(10) Intimation under subsection (8)(a)(ii) or (iv) is to include a note of the functions of a Combined Parent Council as set out in section 8(1) and applied by subsection (12) (of this section).
(11) Where one or more of the represented schools is a primary school, intimation under subsection (8)(a)(ii) or (iv) is also to include a note of the functions of a Combined Parent Council as set out in section 8(2) and applied by subsection (12) (of this section).
(12) Sections 2(4)(c), 7(1) and (4), 8(1) to (15), 9 to 11 and 14 apply, with the necessary modifications, in relation to a Combined Parent Council and the represented schools, as they apply in relation to a Parent Council and the school for which the Parent Council is established.
(13) Subsection (14) applies where a Combined Parent Council is being established and one or more of the represented schools is a denominational school (within the meaning given by section 7(3)).
(14) The constitution of the Combined Parent Council must provide for–
(a) the church or denominational body in whose interest a represented school is conducted, or
(b) where there is more than one such church or denominational body, each church or body,
to nominate at least one person to be a co-opted member of the council.
(15) Sections 5(3) and 6(1) to (9) cease to apply in relation to any school on the making of a decision under subsection (1) by the members of Parent Forums which include the Parent Forum of the school but apply again to the school (either or both)–
(a) on its withdrawing from the represented schools,
(b) on the Combined Parent Council established by virtue of that decision ceasing to exist.
(16) A Combined Parent Council ceases to exist when, by virtue of a school–
(a) being discontinued or amalgamated with another school, or
(b) withdrawing from the represented schools,
the “represented schools” no longer comprise more than one school.
(1) With the requisite consent, the members of the Parent Forum of a school for which a Combined Parent Council is established may decide that the school withdraws from the represented schools.
(2) The reference in subsection (1) to “requisite consent”–
(a) is to consent obtained after each member of the Parent Forum of the school has been given written notice of the proposed decision with an invitation to the member in question to indicate, within such reasonable time as the proposer may specify in the invitation, whether the member agrees that the decision be taken, and
(b) is the consent of the majority of such members of the Parent Forum as respond timeously to that invitation.
(1) The School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988 (c. 47) is repealed.
(2) A School Board appointed under section 1 of that Act ceases to exist when that section is repealed; and any property belonging to the Board then passes to the education authority.
(3) An appointment under section 6(10) of that Act (appointment to be Clerk to a Board) terminates when section 1 of that Act is repealed.
(4) In paragraph 7 of Schedule A1 to the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (persons who are not to be members of appeal committees for consideration of any reference involving a question whether a child is to be placed in a specific school or excluded from a school), for the words “School Board” substitute “Parent Council or Combined Parent Council”.
(5) In section 6(2)(a) of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000 (persons to be consulted as regards preparation of school development plan), for the words “School Board” substitute “Parent Council or Combined Parent Council”.
(1) The Scottish Ministers must issue guidance–
(a) to education authorities, as respects the discharge by those authorities of their functions under sections 2 and 6, and
(b) to Parent Councils and Combined Parent Councils, as respects the discharge by those councils of their functions under section 8 (or as the case may be under that section as applied by section 16(12)).
(2) The Scottish Ministers may issue guidance to education authorities, Parent Councils and Combined Parent Councils as respects the discharge by those authorities and councils of their respective functions under any section not mentioned in subsection (1).
(3) Any such authority or council must have regard to any guidance issued to them or it under this section.
(1) Unless the context otherwise requires, expressions used in this Act and in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (c. 44) have the same meaning in this Act as is given to them by section 135 of that Act except that “pupil” includes a child who is under school age only if that child is in attendance at a primary school (whether or not in a nursery class in such a school).
(2) In this Act, “equal opportunities” and “equal opportunity requirements” have the same meanings as in Section L2 of Part II of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46).
(1) The Scottish Ministers may by order make such incidental, supplemental, consequential, transitional, transitory or saving provision as they consider necessary or expedient for the purposes, or in consequence, of this Act.
(2) An order under subsection (1) may amend or repeal any enactment (other than any provision of this Act).
(1) Any power of the Scottish Ministers to make an order or regulations under this Act is exercisable by statutory instrument.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), a statutory instrument containing any such order or regulations, other than an order under section 24(2), is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the Parliament.
(3) A statutory instrument containing an order under–
(a) section 8(9), or
(b) subsection (1) of section 21 if the order is by virtue of subsection (2) of that section,
is not made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, the Parliament.
(4) Without prejudice to section 24(2), an order or regulations under this Act may make different provision for different cases or classes of case and for different purposes.
There are repealed, to the extent specified in the second column of the schedule to this Act, the enactments mentioned in that schedule.
(1) This Act may be cited as the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006.
(2) This Act, except this section, comes into force on such day as the Scottish Ministers may by order appoint; but different days may be appointed for different provisions, for different areas, for different purposes or for different cases or classes of case.
Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006