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12 Order supplementary to ending of self-governing status
(1) Where an order has been made under section 11 of this Act as respects a school the Scottish Ministers may, after consultation with the education authority which is to manage the school, by order under this section make supplementary provision as respects the change in status of the school.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, an order under this section may--
(a) stipulate a timetable for any steps that may be specified in the order as necessary or expedient in relation to that change in status;
(b) provide for the payment of the expenses attributable to that change in status;
(c) confer such additional powers and impose such additional duties on the board of management of the school as appear to the Scottish Ministers to be appropriate in relation to that change in status;
(d) provide for the ingathering of any land or moveable property owned by--
(i) the board; or
(ii) trustees for the purposes of the school;
(e) require the board to comply with any directions given by the Scottish Ministers in relation to that change in status; or
(f) include such incidental, supplementary, transitional or ancillary provisions as appear to the Scottish Ministers to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of that change in status.
(3) Where land or moveable property purchased, or as the case may be refurbished, for the school out of (or partly out of) funds provided by way of a capital grant--
(a) is transferred to the education authority by virtue of section 11 of this Act; and
(b) subsequently is sold by that authority to a third party,
the Scottish Ministers may, after consultation with the education authority, require that authority to pay them the amount of the funds so provided (or if the amount received by the authority in respect of the sale was less than the amount of those funds, to pay them the amount so received).
(4) Without prejudice to subsection (2)(b) above, the Scottish Ministers may make grants to the board of management for the purpose of enabling the board to defray such expenses incurred by the board as are attributable to that change in status.
(5) The Scottish Ministers may make the payment of a grant in pursuance of subsection (4) above subject to such conditions and requirements (including a requirement that the whole or any part of a grant be repaid) as they think fit.
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Order supplementary to ending of self-governing status |
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This section allows Scottish Ministers to make an order regarding other matters relevant to the transfer, following consultation with the authority which is to manage the school. |
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Under subsection (2) the order may: |
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Subsection (3) provides for the situation where property originally purchased by a self-governing school out of money provided by government grant is sold by the local authority to whom it has transferred under section 11(3) of the Bill. In that circumstance Scottish Ministers have the power, following consultation, to reclaim such grant from the local authority (or the amount received by the authority for the sale, if it is less than the amount of the grant). |
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Subsection (4) allows Scottish Ministers to make grants to the board of management of the school to meet the costs of the change of status. |
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Subsection (5) allows a grant paid under subsection (4) to be subject to conditions. |
13 Transfer of staff of self-governing school
(1) This subsection and subsections (2) to (4) below apply to any person who, immediately before the date specified in an order under section 11 of this Act as respects a self-governing school, is employed by the board of management of the school.
(2) The contract of employment between the person and the board shall have effect from that date as if originally made between the person and the education authority which is to manage the school.
(3) Without prejudice to subsection (2) above--
(a) all the board's rights, powers, duties and liabilities under or in connection with the contract shall by virtue of this paragraph transfer to the authority on that date; and
(b) anything done before that date by or in relation to the board in respect of that contract or of the employee shall be deemed as from that date to have been done by or in relation to the authority.
(4) Subsections (2) and (3) above are without prejudice to any right of the person to terminate the contract of employment if the terms and conditions of employment are changed substantially to the detriment of the person; but such change shall not be taken to have occurred by reason only of the fact that the employer is changed by virtue of section 11(3)(b) of this Act.
(5) Where a person--
(a) has, prior to the date so specified, entered into a contract of employment with the board of management of the school and that contract is to come into effect on or after that date; and
(b) would, if the contract had come into effect before that date, have been a person to whom subsections (1) to (4) above apply,
the person shall be treated as one to whom those subsections do apply.
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Transfer of staff of self-governing school |
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This section deals with the position of staff who are employed by the Board of Management in self-governing schools about to be transferred to the management of the local authority. |
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Under subsection (2) on the date of the transfer of the school to the local authority the contract between the member of staff and the Board will be treated as a contract between the member of staff and the local authority. |
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Under subsection (3) any rights, powers, duties and liabilities of the Board in connection with the contract will also transfer to the local authority, and anything done before the date of transfer by the Board in relation to the contract will be deemed to have been done by or in relation to the authority. |
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Subsection (4) provides that the transfer will not affect the rights of the member of staff to terminate the contract of employment if the terms and conditions of their employment are changed substantially to their detriment. However, the fact that the member of staff's employer has changed from the Board to the authority cannot in itself count as such a detrimental change. |
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Under subsection (5) if a person has entered into a contract with the Board before the date of transfer and the contract is due to start on or after the date of transfer, the same conditions will apply to them as other staff employed by the Board. |
14 Provision of information in relation to self-governing school
Where the Scottish Ministers have made an order under section 11 of this Act as respects a school, the board of management of the school shall--
(a) on or before the date specified in the order, provide the education authority which is to manage the school with all the information held by the board in respect of the school including, without prejudice to that generality, information in respect of--
(i) the administration and finances of the school;
(ii) the fabric of the school;
(iii) the staff transferred to the employment of the authority by virtue of section 11(3)(b) of this Act; and
(iv) the pupils in attendance at the school;
(b) provide the Scottish Ministers, without undue delay, with such information and documents as they may require from the board for the purposes of their determining what supplementary provision to make by order under section 12 of this Act.
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Provision of information in relation to self-governing school |
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This section requires the Board of Management of a school which is to transfer to the local authority to provide the local authority with all the information held by the Board in respect of the school, including information on the administration and finances of the school, the fabric of the school and the staff and pupils at the school. It also requires the Board to provide the Scottish Ministers with any information they need to make the supplementary order under section 12 relating to the transfer. |
15 Educational endowments in relation to self-governing schools
Where, immediately before the date specified in an order under section 11 of this Act in relation to a school, an educational endowment (within the meaning of Part VI of the 1980 Act) is, solely for the purposes of the school, to any extent vested in the board of management, the endowment shall, on that date and to that extent, transfer to and vest for the same purposes in the education authority which is to manage the school.
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Educational endowments in relation to self-governing schools |
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If the school has any educational endowments which are vested in the Board, this section provides that they should transfer to the authority when the school is transferred. |
16 Interruption of process of transition to self-governing status
Where, in the case of any school, proposals for the acquisition of self-governing status have been published under section 16 of the Self-Governing Schools etc. (Scotland) Act 1989 (c. 39) by the School Board and approved by the Secretary of State but as at the coming into force of this section responsibility for the conduct of the school has not transferred to a board of management, the school's transition to self-governing status shall be treated as never having commenced.
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Interruption of process of transition to self-governing status |
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This section provides that if a school's proposals for self-governing status have been approved by the Secretary of State, but that the school has not yet assumed full self-governing status the school's transition to self-governing status will be treated as if it had never started. The school will therefore remain within the local authority's management. |
17 Purported disposal of property of self-governing school
The board of management of a self-governing school shall obtain the consent of the Scottish Ministers to any transfer of moveable property owned by the board which is intended to take place on or after the date on which this section comes into force; and any purported transfer of such property on or after that date is void if such consent has not first been obtained.
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Purported disposal of property of self-governing school |
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This section requires the Board of Management of a self-governing school to get the permission of Scottish Ministers to any transfer of moveable property owned by the Board between the time the Act comes into force and the school returns to the local authority. It also makes any transfer on or after the date the Act comes into force void if permission was not obtained first. |
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The provisions on self-governing schools are repealed in Schedule 3. |
Independent schools
18 Registration of independent schools
(1) In section 98 of the 1980 Act--
(a) in subsection (1) (which provides for there being kept a register of independent schools), after paragraph (i) of the proviso there shall be inserted--
"(ia) no independent school shall be registered if the Registrar has been given notice by the Scottish Ministers that they are satisfied, on such grounds as they shall specify in the notice, that the proprietor is not a proper person to be the proprietor of any school, that a teacher to be employed in the school is not a proper person to be a teacher in any school or that the school premises, or any parts of those premises, are unsuitable for a school;"; and
(b) subsection (2A) (which provides that at any time within an independent school's first month a person will not be guilty of the offence of conducting it as an independent school while it is not registered, or is not provisionally registered, if in that month an application for registration is duly made) is repealed.
(2) After that section there shall be inserted--
"98A Refusal of registration: referral to Independent Schools Tribunal
(1) When, such notice as is mentioned in paragraph (ia) of the proviso to section 98(1) of this Act having been given, registration of a school is refused, the Registrar shall so notify the proprietor (and, if the notice related to a teacher, the teacher also) setting out the grounds which were specified by the Scottish Ministers.
(2) Every notification given under subsection (1) above shall limit the time, not being less than one month after it is so given, within which the refusal of registration may be referred to an Independent Schools Tribunal constituted as is mentioned in section 100 of this Act; and the proprietor or teacher in question may within that time, in such manner as is mentioned in that section, so refer the refusal.
(3) Upon a refusal being so referred the tribunal shall, after affording to all parties concerned an opportunity of being heard, and after considering such evidence as may be tendered by those parties or on their behalf, have power--
(a) to uphold the refusal; or
(b) without prejudice to paragraph (ii) of the proviso mentioned in subsection (1) above, to order the Registrar to register the school.
(4) If the tribunal uphold the refusal then (according to what the grounds were which were specified by the Scottish Ministers) the tribunal may disqualify the proprietor from being the proprietor of any independent school, disqualify the teacher from being a teacher in any school or disqualify the premises, or parts of premises, from being used as a school or as part of a school.".
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Independent schools |
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Registration of independent schools |
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This section amends section 98 of the 1980 Act to allow Scottish Ministers to direct that the Registrar of Independent Schools refuse registration of an independent school in particular circumstances. It also makes it unlawful to operate an independent school until the school has been registered. |
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Subsection (1) adds a new subsection to section 98 of the 1980 Act to allow Scottish Ministers to direct that the Registrar of Independent Schools shall not register an independent school for reasons related to the proprietor, a teacher or the premises. It also repeals subsection (2A) of section 98 of the 1980 Act with the effect that a school must be registered before it begins to operate. |
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Subsection (2) adds an additional section, 98A, to the 1980 Act. |
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In that new section, subsection (1) requires that the proprietor (and if relevant, the teacher) be notified of the reasons why registration was refused. |
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Subsection (2) allows the proprietor (and if relevant, the teacher) to ask that the refusal be referred to an Independent Schools Tribunal. It requires that he be informed of the period in which he may request the referral. |
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Subsection (3) gives the Tribunal the power to uphold the refusal or to direct that the Registrar register the school. |
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Subsection (4) gives the Tribunal, if it upholds the decision to refuse registration, the power to disqualify the proprietor from being the proprietor of any independent school, disqualify the teacher from being a teacher in any school or disqualify the premises or parts of the premises from being used as a school. |
19 Welfare of pupil attending independent school
In section 99 of the 1980 Act (which sets out grounds on which a complaint may be served upon the proprietor of an independent school), after paragraph (a) there shall be inserted--
"(aa) that the welfare of a pupil attending the school is not adequately safeguarded and promoted there;".
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Welfare of pupil attending independent school |
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This section amends section 99 of the 1980 Act to include an additional reason for serving a complaint on the proprietor of an independent school. That reason relates to the welfare of any pupil attending the school. |
School Boards
20 Election to School Board after school ceases to be self-governing
In section 2A of the School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988 (c. 47) (which makes provision as respects elections for members of School Boards), after subsection (3) there shall be added--
"(3A) In the case of a school which, by virtue of section 11 of the Improvement in Scottish Education Act 1999, ceases to be a school which is a self-governing school, the first election for members of the School Board shall be held as soon as practicable after pupils first attend the school following that change in status of the school.".
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School Boards |
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Election to School Board after school ceases to be self-governing |
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This section provides that the first elections for a School Board for a school that was formerly self-governing will be held as soon as possible after the school has gone back to local authority management. |
21 Vacancies for parent members of School Boards: end of by-elections
(1) In the event of--
(a) a vacancy arising for a parent member of a School Board; or
(b) a lesser number of parent members being elected than is necessary to make up the number for the time being prescribed for the purposes of section 2(1)(a) of the School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988 (c. 47) (which relates to the composition of a School Board),
a by-election shall not be held to fill the place.
(2) Schedule 1 to this Act (which contains amendments to that Act consequential upon subsection (1) above) shall have effect.
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Vacancies for parent members of School Boards: end of by-elections |
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This section removes the requirement to hold a by-election to fill parental vacancies on a School Board which arise either following a regular election of parent members or during members' term of office. The necessary amendments to the School Boards legislation are included in Schedule 1. |
Education for pre-school children
22 Duty of education authorities as respects provision of education for children under school age etc.
(1) Section 1 of the 1980 Act (which imposes a duty on education authorities to secure the provision of education) shall be amended in accordance with this section.
(2) In subsection (1), for "(2)" substitute "(1A)".
(3) After subsection (1) there shall be inserted--
"(1A) The duty imposed on education authorities by subsection (1) above shall, in relation to children who are under school age, be exercisable only as respects children of such description or descriptions as may be prescribed by order.
(1B) An education authority shall have power in relation to pre-school children to secure for their area the provision of such school education, other than that which they are required by subsection (1) above to secure, as they think fit.".
(4) Subsection (2) is repealed.
(5) After subsection (4) there shall be inserted--
"(4A) The power to make an order under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the Scottish Parliament.
(4B) In this section "pre-school children" means--
(a) children who are under school age; and
(b) children who--
(i) have attained school age; but
(ii) have not commenced attendance at a primary school (other than
in a nursery class).".
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Education for pre-school children |
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Duty of education authorities as respects provision of education for children under school age etc. |
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This section makes amendments to section 1 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to require authorities to secure the provision of pre-school education for such categories of children as may be identified by Scottish Ministers by order. The section will also enable authorities to secure provision for such children beyond what they are required to secure and also to secure provision for other categories of children should they choose to do so. |
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