Education Act 1980

3 Grouping of schools under single governing body

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a local education authority may make an arrangement for the constitution of a single governing body for any two or more schools maintained by the authority.

(2) Any arrangement under this section, other than one relating only to two primary schools neither of which is a special school, shall require the approval of the Secretary of State.

(3) Any arrangement under this section relating to a voluntary school shall require the consent of the governors or, in the case of a school in respect of which proposals have been submitted under section 13 below and for which no governors have yet been appointed, of the persons submitting the proposals.

(4) The governing body constituted by an arrangement under this section shall include parent governors and teacher governors ; and for the purposes of the election of such governors the schools to which the arrangement relates may be treated either separately or as if they were a single school.

(5) Any arrangement under this section may, if it does not relate to any voluntary school, be terminated at any time by the local education authority by whom it was made, and any such arrangement which relates to a voluntary school may be terminated by agreement between the local education authority and the governing body constituted by the arrangement or, in default of agreement, by one year's notice served by the local education authority on the governing body or by one year's notice served by the governing body on the local education authority.

(6) The Secretary of State's approval for the making of any arrangement under this section may be given subject to such conditions as he may specify; and the Secretary of State may at any time terminate any such arrangement either wholly or in relation to any school or schools to which it applies.

(7) While an arrangement under this section is in force in relation to any school—

(a) neither section 2 above nor the provisions as to the constitution of the body of governors in sections 17 to 19 of the [1944 c. 31.] Education Act 1944 shall apply to the school; and

(b) for the purposes of any other enactment the governing body constituted by the arrangement and the members of that body shall be deemed to be the governing body and the governors of that school.

(8) This section applies to—

(a) schools having an instrument of government made after the coming into force of section 2 above ; and

(b) schools in relation to which an order has been made under subsection (11)(b) of that section.

(9) The provisions of section 20 of the said Act of 1944 and section 2(4) of the [1968 c. 37.] Education (No. 2) Act 1968 (grouping of schools) shall not apply to any school to which this section applies ; and any arrangements made under those provisions shall cease to apply to any school in relation to which an arrangement is made under this section or an order under section 2(11)(b) above comes into force.