Education Act 1996

201 Transfer of property etc

(1) Subject to subsection (3), where in relation to any school proposals for acquisition of grant-maintained status are approved—

(a) the property, rights and liabilities mentioned in subsection (2) of any local authority, and

(b) any property, rights and liabilities of the existing governing body,

shall on the date of implementation of the proposals be transferred to, and by virtue of this Act vest in, the governing body incorporated under Chapter II.

(2) The property, rights and liabilities referred to in subsection (1)(a) are—

(a) all land or other property which, immediately before the date of implementation of the proposals, was property used or held by the authority for the purposes of the school, and

(b) all rights and liabilities subsisting immediately before the date of implementation of the proposals which were acquired or incurred by the authority for those purposes.

(3) Subsection (1) shall not apply to rights and liabilities under any contract of employment; and subsection (1)(a) shall not apply to—

(a) any land or other property vested in a local authority as trustees,

(b) any property, rights or liabilities excluded under subsection (5) or (6),

(c) any liability of a local authority in respect of the principal of, or any interest on, any loan, or

(d) any liability of a local authority in respect of compensation for premature retirement of any person formerly employed by them or by any governing body of the school.

(4) Any land or other property of a local authority excluded by virtue of subsection (3)(a) from transfer to the governing body shall, on the date of implementation of the proposals, be transferred to, and by virtue of this Act vest in, the first governors of the school on the trusts applicable immediately before that date under any trust deed regulating the use of that land or other property for the purposes of the school.

(5) If before the date of implementation of the proposals—

(a) the new governing body and the local authority have agreed in writing to exclude any property, and

(b) the Secretary of State has given his written approval of the agreement,

the property, and any rights or liabilities relating to it, shall be excluded.

(6) If in default of agreement under subsection (5)—

(a) the new governing body or the local authority have applied to the Secretary of State to exclude any property, and

(b) the Secretary of State has by order directed its exclusion,

the property, and any rights or liabilities relating to it, shall be excluded.

(7) An agreement under subsection (5) may provide for the property to be used for the purposes of the school acquiring grant-maintained status on such terms as may be specified in or determined in accordance with the agreement; and directions under subsection (6)—

(a) may confer any rights or impose any liabilities that could have been conferred or imposed by such an agreement, and

(b) shall have effect as if contained in such an agreement.

(8) For the purposes of this section, any interest in a dwelling-house which, immediately before the date of implementation of the proposals, is used or held by a local authority for occupation by a person employed to work at the school shall be treated as an interest used or held for the purposes of the school.

(9) References in this section to liabilities incurred by a local authority shall not be read as including liabilities of such an authority to make payments to or in respect of any person in pursuance of any duty imposed on the authority under any statutory provision.

(10) This section is subject to section 198 of the [1988 c. 40.] Education Reform Act 1988 (which with Schedule 10 to that Act makes further provision in relation to transfers of property, rights and liabilities), and references in that Schedule as applied by virtue of this subsection to the transfer date are to the date of implementation of the proposals.