Education (Scotland) Act 1980

22 Discontinuance and moves of educational establishments

(1) Subject to any special conditions attaching thereto and to any scheme under section 7 of this Act relating thereto, an education authority may—

(a) sell, feu, excamb or let any land vested in them ; and

(b) with the sanction of the Secretary of State discontinue or change the site of, any educational establishment under their management, or part thereof.

(2) Where an education authority propose to discontinue any educational establishment under their management, or to discontinue the use, in connection with such an educational establishment, of any part of that establishment, or of any building or part of a building ancillary to the establishment, and land forming the site, or part of the site, of that establishment or of that part of the establishment or of that building or part of a building, as the case may be, is subject to—

(a) the third proviso to section 2 of the [1841 c. 38.] School Sites Act 1841 (which provides that, if any land granted in accordance with the provisions of that section ceases to be used for the purposes mentioned in that Act, that land shall revert to the grantor), or

(b) any condition of a similar nature in any Act, deed or other instrument,

the Secretary of State, on the application in that behalf of the education authority, may by order direct that the said proviso or condition shall not have effect in relation to that land:

Provided that such a direction shall not be given in relation to any land unless the Secretary of State is satisfied either—

(i) that the person to whom the land would revert in accordance with the said proviso or condition cannot after due inquiry be found, or

(ii) that, if that person can be found, he has consented to relinquish his rights in relation to the land under the said proviso or condition, and that, if he has consented to do so in consideration of the payment of a sum of money to him, adequate provision can be made for the payment to him of that sum.

(3) A direction given by the Secretary of State under subsection (2) above in relation to any land may make provision for the payment out of the proceeds of any sale of that land of any sum which is payable to any person in consideration of the relinquishment of his rights in relation to the land under the said proviso or condition.

(4) If at any time after the expiry of ten years from the transfer of a school under section 16 of this Act, or from the provision of a new school under section 17(2) of this Act, the education authority by whom the school is maintained are of opinion that the school is no longer required, or that, having regard to the religious belief of the parents of the children attending the school, the conditions prescribed in subsections (1) to (4) of section 21 of this Act or in the said subsections so far as applicable and having effect by virtue of subsection (5) of that section, as the case may be, ought no longer to apply thereto, the authority may so represent to the Secretary of State, and if the Secretary of State, after such inquiry as he deems necessary. is of the same opinion and so signifies, it shall be lawful for the education authority thereafter to discontinue the school, or, as the case may be, to hold, maintain and manage the same in all respects as a public school not subject to those conditions:

Provided that—

(i) in the case of any school which has been transferred as aforesaid to an education authority, that authority shall in either of those events make to the trustees by whom the school was transferred, or to their successors in office or representatives, such compensation (if any) in respect of the school or other property so transferred as may be agreed, or as may be determined, failing agreement, by an arbiter appointed by the Secretary of State upon the application of either party; and

(ii) if before the expiry of ten years from the transfer of any such school, the education authority are of opinion as aforesaid and so represent, and the trustees by whom the school was transferred, or their successors in office or representatives, formally intimate to the Secretary of State that they concur with the authority in their opinion as represented, then in such case, if the Secretary of State is of the same opinion and so signifies, it shall be lawful for the education authority forthwith to discontinue or to hold, maintain or manage the school as aforesaid, subject to the like provision with respect to compensation.

(5) In subsection (4) above, the reference to section 16 or 17(2) of this Act shall include a reference to the corresponding provision of the Act of 1918, the Act of 1946 and the Act of 1962.