Education Reform Act 1988

140 Preparation and imposition of further and higher education funding schemes. E+W

(1) A scheme prepared by a local education authority under section 139 of this Act shall be submitted to the Secretary of State on or before such date as the Secretary of State may by order direct, either generally or in relation to any local education authority, or any class or description of such authorities, specified in the order.

(2) In preparing a scheme under that section a local education authority shall—

(a) comply with any prescribed requirements with respect to the provisions to be included in any such scheme; and

(b) take into account any guidance given by the Secretary of State as to the provisions he regards as appropriate for inclusion in any such scheme.

(3) Guidance given by the Secretary of State for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) above—

(a) may be given generally or in relation to any particular local education authority or any class or description of such authorities; and

(b) shall be published in such manner as the Secretary of State thinks fit.

(4) Before preparing such a scheme a local education authority shall consult the governing body of every institution providing full-time education which is either—

(a) an institution maintained by the authority in exercise of their further or higher education functions; or

(b) a designated assisted institution dependent on assistance from the authority.

(5) Such a scheme shall not come into force until it has been approved by the Secretary of State or until such date as the Secretary of State may, in giving his approval, specify; and the Secretary of State may approve such a scheme—

(a) either without modifications or with such modifications as he thinks fit after consulting the authority concerned; and

(b) subject to such conditions as he may specify in giving his approval.

(3) The scheme shall also set out the principles and procedures to be applied by the authority in planning the educational provision to be made by institutions required to be covered by the scheme.

(4) For the purposes of this Chapter, an institution is required to be covered in any financial year by a scheme made under this section by a local education authority if—

(a) it is an institution providing full-time education; and

(b) immediately before the beginning of that year it is, or at any time during that year it becomes, either—

(i) an institution maintained by that authority in exercise of their further or higher education functions; or

(ii) a designated assisted institution dependent on assistance from that authority.

(5) In this Chapter—

(a) references to an institution in respect of which financial delegation is required for any financial year under a scheme under this section are references to an institution conducted by a governing body to whom the local education authority concerned are for the time being required by or under the scheme to delegate the management of the institution’s budget share for that year (and the governing body of such an institution are said to have a right to a delegated budget for the year);

(b) references to an institution which has a delegated budget are references to an institution conducted by a governing body to whom a local education authority have for the time being delegated the management of the institution’s budget share for any financial year in pursuance of such a scheme (whether that delegation is required by the scheme or not); and

(c) any reference, in relation to an institution assisted by a local education authority, to the delegation by that authority to the governing body of that institution of the management of the institution’s budget share for any financial year shall be read as a reference to the making by that authority to that body of a grant in respect of the institution of an amount equal to that budget share.

(6) References in this Act to a designated assisted institution are references to an institution designated by or under regulations made under section 27 of the 1980 Act as an institution substantially dependent for its maintenance on assistance from local education authorities.

(7) For the purposes of this Part of this Act a designated assisted institution shall be regarded as dependent on assistance from a local education authority if it is assisted by that authority and either—

(a) it is not assisted by any local education authority; or

(b) that authority provides a larger proportion than any other local education authority by whom the institution is assisted of the aggregate amount of the sums received by the governing body of the institution during any financial year by way of assistance from such authorities in respect of the expenses of maintaining the institution.

(6) If in the case of any local education authority either—

(a) the authority fail to submit a scheme as required by subsection (1) above; or

(b) it appears to the Secretary of State that a scheme submitted by the authority as required by that subsection is unsatisfactory and cannot be rendered satisfactory merely by modifying it;

he may, after consulting such persons as he thinks fit, impose a scheme making such provision of a description required to be made by a scheme under section 139 of this Act in the case of that authority as he considers appropriate.

(7) A scheme imposed by the Secretary of State by virtue of subsection (6) above—

(a) shall be treated as if made under section 139 by the local education authority concerned; and

(b) shall come into force on such date as may be specified in the scheme.