Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965

The General Council

1 Establishment of General Teaching Council for Scotland

(1) There shall be a body, to be called the General Teaching Council for Scotland (in this Act referred to as " the Council "), which shall have in relation to Scotland the functions assigned to it by or under this Act.

(2) The Council shall be constituted in accordance with Part I of Schedule 1 to this Act; and the supplementary provisions contained in Part II of that Schedule shall have effect with respect to the Council.

General Functions of Council

2 Standards for entry to the teaching profession

(1) It shall be the duty of the Council to keep under review the standards of education, training and fitness to teach appropriate to persons entering the teaching profession and to make to the Secretary of State from time to time such recommendations with respect to those standards as they think fit.

(2) Without prejudice to the foregoing subsection the Council may in particular make to the Secretary of State recommendations as to the conditions which, in their view, should be prescribed by him under section 7 of this Act.

(3) It shall also be the duty of the Council to consider, and make to the Secretary of State from time to time recommendations on, such other matters relating to the education, training and fitness to teach of teachers as they think fit or as may be referred to them by the Secretary of State.

3 Supply of teachers

It shall be the duty of the Council to consider, and make to the Secretary of State from time to time recommendations on, such matters (other than remuneration or conditions of service) relating to the supply of teachers as they think fit or as may be referred to them by the Secretary of State.

4 Secretary of State to have regard to recommendations

In exercising his functions under the Education (Scotland) Acts 1939 to 1965 the Secretary of State shall have regard to any recommendations made to him by the Council under the two last foregoing sections.

5 Colleges of education

(1) It shall be the duty of the Council—

(a) to keep themselves informed of the nature of the instruction given in colleges of education, and

(b) to undertake such other functions in relation to colleges of education as may be assigned to them by the Secretary of State by regulations made under section 81 of the Act of 1962 after consultation with the Council and with the governing bodies of such of those colleges as appear to him to be concerned ;

and the power to make regulations conferred on the Secretary of State by the said section 81 shall include power to make regulations for the purposes of paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(2) For the purposes of their duty under paragraph (a) of the foregoing subsection the Council may appoint on such terms as may be agreed persons to visit colleges of education on their behalf, and it shall be the duty of those visitors to report to the Council as to the general content and arrangement of the courses of instruction provided in the colleges of education visited by them; but no such visitor shall interfere with the giving of any instruction or with the conduct of any examination.

(3) Where it appears to the Council (as a result of a report under the last foregoing subsection or otherwise) that any change should be made in the general content or arrangement of the courses of instruction provided in any college of education the Council may make recommendations in that behalf to the governing body of that college ; and if, after consultation between the Council and the governing body, and any resulting modification by the Council of the recommendations, the governing body refuses to accept the recommendations (or, as the case may be, the recommendations as modified) the Council may report the circumstances to the Secretary of State.

Register of Teachers

6 Establishment of register

(1) It shall be the duty of the Council to establish and keep a register containing the names, addresses and such qualifications and other particulars as may be prescribed, of persons who are entitled under the following provisions of this section to be registered therein and who apply in the prescribed manner to be so registered.

(2) Any person shall be entitled to be registered if—

(a) he is a certificated teacher; or

(b) having fulfilled the requirements prescribed by the Secretary of State under the next following section, he has been duly recommended by the governing body of a college of education to the Council for registration ; or

(c) in the case of a person who is not entitled to be registered under either of the two foregoing paragraphs, his education, training, fitness to teach and experience are such as, in the opinion of the Council, to warrant his registration; or

(d) having been a certificated teacher whose certificate has been withdrawn or suspended, and not restored under any enactment in force before the commencement of this Act, his registration has been directed by the Disciplinary Committee under paragraph (d) of section 10(3) of this Act or, in a case not falling under that paragraph, by the Council:

Provided that the entitlement of any person to be registered by virtue of this subsection shall, in a case referred to the Disciplinary Committee under section 10(2)(b) of this Act, be subject to any direction by that Committee under section 11(2) of this Act.

(3) For avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that a person shall not be entitled to be registered by virtue of paragraph (c) of the last foregoing subsection if he has been a certificated teacher and his certificate has been withdrawn or suspended, and not restored under any enactment in force before the commencement of this Act.

(4) The Council may make rules with respect to the form and keeping of the register, and the making of entries and alterations therein ; and rules made under this subsection may in particular—

(a) provide for the registration of a person to be provisional until such conditions as may be prescribed in that behalf are satisfied, and for the cancellation of provisional registration in such circumstances as may be prescribed;

(b) provide for the payment of such fees as may be prescribed, with the approval of the Secretary of State, in relation to registration;

(c) provide for the removal of a name from the register on a failure to pay a prescribed fee and for its restoration to the register on the making of the prescribed application in that behalf and on payment of that fee and any additional fee prescribed in respect of the restoration;

(d) provide for the issue of certificates of registration ;

(e) prescribe anything required or authorised by this section to be prescribed;

(f) make such consequential, ancillary and incidental provisions as appear to the Council to be expedient for the purposes of the rules;

and in this section (except in subsection (2)(b) thereof) " prescribed " means prescribed by the Council in rules made under this subsection.

(5) Rules made under the last foregoing subsection prescribing fees may provide for the charging of different fees in different classes of case.

(6) Rules made under subsection (4) of this section shall be published in such manner as the Council may determine and shall be so made as not to come into force before the expiration of one month from the date on which they are so published.

7 Conditions for recommendation for registration

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section the Secretary of State may make regulations prescribing conditions to be fulfilled by a person in order to qualify him for admission to a course of training to be a teacher or to be recommended by the governing body of a college of education to the Council for registration.

(2) Conditions prescribed under the foregoing subsection may include conditions requiring a person to satisfy such persons or authorities as may be so prescribed as regards his education, training and fitness to teach generally.

(3) Without prejudice to section 4 of this Act the Secretary of State shall, before making regulations under this section, consider any relevant recommendation and, unless he considers it inexpedient to do so, shall make regulations under this section giving effect to that recommendation, or, if any modification to the recommendation is approved both by the Secretary of State and by the Council, the recommendation as so modified.

(4) If the Secretary of State considers that it is inexpedient to make regulations giving effect to any relevant recommendation, but no modification thereof is approved as aforesaid and the recommendation is not withdrawn, the Secretary of State may either—

(a) refuse to make regulations giving effect to the recommendation, or

(b) make regulations giving effect to the recommendation modified in such manner as he thinks fit.

(5) If the Secretary of State proposes to make regulations under this section otherwise than in consequence of a relevant recommendation he shall, before publishing a draft thereof in pursuance of section 144(2) of the Act of 1962, afford to the Council an opportunity of considering the draft and shall have regard to representations made by them.

(6) If the Secretary of State refuses to make regulations under this section giving effect to a relevant recommendation he shall, as soon as may be, publish in such manner as he thinks fit a statement of the terms of the recommendation and his reasons for refusing to make regulations giving effect to it.

(7) If the Secretary of State proposes to make regulations under this section—

(a) in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (4)(b) above, or

(b) in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (5) above, and without giving effect to any representations made by the Council under that subsection,

he shall, when publishing a draft of the regulations in pursuance of section 144(2) of the Act of 1962, publish in such manner as he thinks fit a statement of the terms of the relevant recommendation, his reasons for modifying it and, if the Council have notified him of any objections to the modifications, those objections; or, as the case may be, a statement of any representations made by the Council under the said subsection (5) and his reasons for not giving effect to them.

(8) Section 144 of the Act of 1962 (except subsection (3) thereof) shall apply to the making of regulations under this section as it applies to the making of the regulations referred to in that section.

(9) In this section " relevant recommendation" means a recommendation made by the Council under section 2(2) of this Act.

8 Principles for entitlement to registration under s. 6(2)(c)

The Council shall from time to time prepare, and publish in such manner as they think fit, a statement specifying the principles to which they will have regard in considering, for the purpose of section 6(2)(c) of this Act, whether a person's education, training, fitness to teach and experience warrant his registration.

9 Penalty for false representations etc. to obtain registration

If a person—

(a) procures or attempts to procure the entry of any name on the register by wilfully making or producing or causing to be made or produced, either orally or in writing, any declaration, certificate or representation which he knows to be false or fraudulent, or

(b) falsely or fraudulently holds himself out to be registered,

he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

Disciplinary Provisions

10 Investigating and Disciplinary Committees

(1) The Council shall set up from their own number two committees, to be known respectively as the Investigating Committee and the Disciplinary Committee.

(2) The Investigating Committee shall be charged with the duty of conducting a preliminary investigation into any case where it is alleged—

(a) that a registered person is liable under the provisions of this Act to have his name removed from the register, or

(b) that a person who has been duly recommended for registration, and has applied to be registered, has been convicted of a serious offence, or has been otherwise guilty of serious misconduct;

and, if, after such investigation, it considers it just to do so, the Investigating Committee shall refer the case to the Disciplinary Committee.

(3) The Disciplinary Committee shall be charged with the duty of considering and determining—

(a) any case referred to it by the Investigating Committee under the last foregoing subsection ;

(b) any application by a person for the restoration of his name to the register;

(c) any second or subsequent application for registration by a person whose original application has been refused in pursuance of a direction of the Disciplinary Committee under subsection (2) of the next following section;

(d) any application for registration by any person who has been a certificated teacher but whose certificate has been withdrawn on the ground of misconduct, or suspended on that ground, and not restored under any enactment in force before the commencement of this Act.

(4) The Council shall make rules regulating—

(a) the membership of each of the said committees, so however that in each there shall be a majority of registered teachers, and that no person (other than the chairman of the Council) who has acted as a member of the Investigating Committee with respect to any case shall act as a member of the Disciplinary Committee with respect to that case ;

(b) the times and places of the meetings, the quorum and the mode of summoning the members, of the Disciplinary Committee.

(5) The provisions of Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the procedure of the Disciplinary Committee.

11 Decisions of Disciplinary Committee

(1) Where a registered person—

(a) has been convicted (whether in Scotland or elsewhere) of a criminal offence which, in the opinion of the Disciplinary Committee, renders him unfit to be registered; or

(b) is judged by the Disciplinary Committee to be guilty of infamous conduct in any professional respect,

or where the Disciplinary Committee is satisfied that the name of such a person has been registered in error in consequence of any false or fraudulent declaration or representation, that Committee may, if it thinks fit, direct that the person's name shall be removed from the register.

(2) Where a person who has been duly recommended for registration, and has applied for registration—

(a) has been convicted (whether in Scotland or elsewhere) of a criminal offence, or

(b) is judged by the Disciplinary Committee to be guilty of misconduct,

which, in the opinion of that Committee, renders him unfit to be registered, that Committee may, if it thinks fit, direct that the person's application shall be refused.

(3) A person—

(a) whose application for registration has been refused in pursuance of a direction by the Disciplinary Committee under section 10(3)(d) of this Act or under the last foregoing subsection, or

(b) whose name is removed from the register in pursuance of a direction of the Disciplinary Committee under subsection (1) of this section,

shall not be entitled to be registered or, as the case may be, registered again, except in pursuance of a direction given by that Committee on the application of that person.

(4) The Disciplinary Committee, in directing that a person's application for registration or re-registration shall be refused or that a person's name shall be removed from the register, may prohibit that person from applying, or, as the case may be, applying again, for a direction under the last foregoing subsection until the expiration of such period, not exceeding twelve months from the date of the direction, as may be specified in the prohibition.

(5) When the Disciplinary Committee directs that a person's application for registration or re-registration shall be refused, or that a person's name shall be removed from the register, the Committee shall cause notice of the direction to be served on that person, and any such notice shall include a statement of the facts found to have been proved in the proceedings before the Committee and the reasons for the direction.

12 Appeals

(1) Any person—

(a) in respect of whom a direction has been made by the Disciplinary Committee under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of the last foregoing section ;

(b) whose application for the restoration of his name to the register has been refused by the Disciplinary Committee;

(c) whose application for registration has been refused in pursuance of a direction by the Disciplinary Committee under section 10(3) (d) of this Act;

may, within twenty-eight days of the service on him of notice of the direction, appeal against the direction to the Court of Session in accordance with such rules as may be made by the Court by Act of Sederunt for the purposes of this subsection; and on any such appeal the Court of Session may give such directions in the matter as it thinks proper, including directions as to the expenses of the appeal.

(2) No appeal shall lie from a decision of the Court of Session on an appeal under this section.

(3) On an appeal under this section the Council shall be entitled to appear as respondent; and, whether they so appear or not, the Council shall be deemed for the purposes of any award of expenses in the appeal to be a party thereto.

(4) No direction under subsection (1) of the last foregoing section shall take effect until—

(a) where the person concerned appeals against the direction in accordance with this section, the appeal has been withdrawn or dismissed, or

(b) in any other case, the expiration of the period limited by this section for so appealing.

Miscellaneous and Supplementary

13 Service of notices

Any notice or other document authorised or required to be served under this Act may, without prejudice to any other method of service, be served by registered or recorded delivery post; and for the purpose of the application to this section of section 26 of the [1889 c. 63.] Interpretation Act 1889 (which relates to service by post) the proper address of a person to whose registration such a notice or other document relates shall, if he is a registered person, be his address on the register.

14 Orders

(1) Any power conferred by this Act to make an order shall include power to vary or revoke the order by a subsequent order.

(2) Any order made by the Secretary of State under this Act shall be made by statutory instrument; and a statutory instrument containing any such order (except an order under section 18(3) of this Act) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

15 Financial provisions

(1) The Secretary of State may from time to time make to the Council such grants as he thinks fit in respect of expenses incurred or to be incurred by the Council in discharging their functions under this Act, and may make to the Council such loans as he thinks fit in respect of the initial expenses incurred or to be incurred by the Council in establishing the register.

(2) Where the Secretary of State incurs expenses under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to this Act in connection with the first election of the Council he shall be deemed to have made to the Council a loan of an amount equal to the amount of the expenses incurred.

(3) Any loan made, or deemed to be made, to the Council by the Secretary of State under the foregoing provisions of this section shall be subject to such terms and conditions, and shall be repaid to him at such times, as he may, with the approval of the Treasury, direct.

(4) Any expenses incurred by the Secretary of State under this Act shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.

(5) Any sums received by the Secretary of State under this Act shall be paid into the Exchequer.

16 Amendment of Act of 1962

(1) So much of section 81 of the Act of 1962 as confers power on the Secretary of State to award certificates of competency to teach in schools or other educational establishments shall cease to have effect, and accordingly in that section paragraph (a) of subsection (1), and in subsection (3) the words " certificates or " and the words " certificates and ", wherever they occur, are hereby repealed.

(2) In the Act of 1962 (except in section 145(11) thereof) any reference to a certificated teacher shall, unless the context otherwise requires, include a reference to a teacher registered under this Act.

17 Interpretation

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them respectively:—

• " Act of 1962 " means the [1962 c. 47.] Education (Scotland) Act 1962 ;

• " approved school " means a school approved under section 83 of the [1937 c. 37.] Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937;

• " notice " means a notice in writing ;

• " register " means the register established by the Council under section 6 of this Act; and " registered " and " registration " shall be construed accordingly ;

• " teach " means teach in an educational establishment (as defined in section 145 of the Act of 1962) or in an approved school, and " teaching " and " teacher " shall be construed accordingly.

(2) Any expression used in this Act and in the Act of 1962 has in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning as it has in that Act.

(3) Any reference in this Act to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.

18 Short title, extent and commencement

(1) This Act may be cited as the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965.

(2) This Act extends to Scotland only.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint; and different days may be appointed for different provisions.