The Teaching Council (Scotland) Election Scheme 1989 Approval Order 1989

Statutory Instruments

1989 No. 2308 (S.151)

EDUCATION, SCOTLAND

The Teaching Council (Scotland) Election Scheme 1989 Approval Order 1989

Made

4th December 1989

Laid before Parliament

20th December 1989

Coming into force

10th January 1990

Whereas the General Teaching Council for Scotland have, in exercise of their powers under paragraph 1(6) and (7) of Schedule 1 to the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965(1), made the Teaching Council (Scotland) Election Scheme 1989 and have submitted it to the Secretary of State for approval;

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State in exercise of the powers conferred on him by paragraph 1(8) of that Schedule, as read with section 14(1) of that Act, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Teaching Council (Scotland) Election Scheme 1989 Approval Order 1989, and shall come into force on 10th January 1990.

Approval

2.  The Teaching Council (Scotland) Election Scheme 1989, which is set out in the Schedule to this Order, is hereby approved.

Revocation

3.  The Teaching Council (Scotland) Election Scheme 1970 Approval Order 1970(2) and the Teaching Council (Scotland) (Amendment) Election Scheme 1977 Approval Order 1977(3) are hereby revoked.

Ian Lang

Minister of State, Scottish Office

St Andrew’s House,

Edinburgh

4th December 1989

Article 2

SCHEDULE THE TEACHING COUNCIL (SCOTLAND) ELECTION SCHEME 1989

Scheme for the Election of Registered Teachers to the General Teaching Council for Scotland made under paragraph 1(6) and (7) of Schedule 1 to the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965

Definitions

1.—(1) In this Scheme unless the context otherwise requires—

“the Act” means the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965;

“arbiter” means the person appointed on or before the 31st day of October in each election year by the Sheriff of Lothian and Borders at Edinburgh on the application of the Council;

“the Council” means the General Teaching Council for Scotland constituted under section 1 of the Act;

“election year” means the year 1990 and every fourth year thereafter;

“register” means the register established by the Council under section 6 of the Act and “registered” shall be construed accordingly;

“Registrar” means the registrar employed by the Council under paragraph 14(1) of Schedule I to the Act;

“Returning Officer” means a person appointed as returning officer under article 3 of this Scheme and includes a Deputy Returning Officer so appointed;

“teacher” means a registered teacher, whether in employment as a teacher or not, other than a principal of a college of education in Scotland.

(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to a “category of employment” shall be construed as a reference to a category of educational establishment mentioned in paragraph 1(2) of Schedule I to the Act(4) and any reference, in relation to a person, to category of employment shall be construed as a reference to that one of the said categories of educational establishment in which the person is employed, or has chosen as the category for purposes of the election, as provided for in article 2(3)(b) below.

Notification of election

2.—(1) The Registrar shall notify each teacher within an election year, not later than 15th June, that an election of twenty-six teachers to be members of the Council will take place later that year.

(2) The notification shall be in writing in the form as nearly as may be of Form A in the Appendix to this Scheme and shall include an invitation to candidates to submit with the nomination papers a personal statement in terms of article 7(2)(c) of this Scheme.

(3) The Registrar shall secure so far as reasonably practicable that every teacher—

(a) is informed of the category of employment which appears against the teacher’s name on the register; and

(b) is given the opportunity to verify this category or to request that an amendment be made thereto stating the grounds for amendment;

and the Registrar shall, if satisfied with the grounds for amendment, change the category in accordance with the request.

Returning Officer

3.—(1) The Council shall, at least six months before the date on which an election is to take place in an election year, appoint a person, not being a member of the Council or a teacher, to be the Returning Officer for the ensuing election.

(2) The Council shall at the same time also appoint a Deputy Returning Officer, not being a member of the Council or a teacher, to act for the Returning Officer in the event of the Returning Officer’s absence or inability to act.

(3) The Returning Officer shall have power, subject to approval of the Council, to employ staff necessary for the conduct of the election and pay them out of the monies provided by the Council.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Scheme the Returning Officer shall be responsible for the conduct of the election.

Voting categories

4.  For the purposes of an election under this Scheme—

(a) there shall be four voting categories each of which bears the number specified in relation thereto in column (1) of the following Table and corresponds to that one of the categories of educational establishment mentioned in paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 to the Act which is specified in relation thereto in column (2) of the said Table;

(b) the teachers eligible to stand for election in a voting category are those specified in relation to that category in column (3) of the said Table; and

(c) the number of Council members to be elected in a voting category are those specified in relation thereto in column (4) of the said Table:—

TABLE

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
No. of voting category	Category of employment	Teachers eligible to stand for election	No. of Council Members to be elected in voting category
I	Colleges of education	Teachers employed in colleges of education	1
II	Further education centres	Teachers employed in further education centres	3
III	Secondary schools and departments	Teachers employed in secondary schools and departments	11
IV	Primary schools and departments	Teachers employed in primary schools and departments	11
		Total	26

Qualifications of candidates and electors

5.—(1) Candidates

(a) Only teachers employed on a whole-time basis on 1st Sep tember of an election year in post in a category of employment shall be eligible to be nominated for election for that category;

(b) for the purposes of any election under this Scheme, a candidate for election shall be taken to belong to the category of employment appearing against the candidate’s name on the register on 1st September in each election year;

(c) a teacher who shall have attained the age of 70 years on 1st February of the year succeeding an election shall not be eligible to be nominated for election.

(2) Electors

An elector must be a teacher whose name is on the register on 15th October in an election year.

Publication of notice of election

6.—(1) The Council shall fix 30th September in an election year and, if this falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the preceding Friday as the last day on which nomination papers are to be accepted and, at least twenty-eight clear days before the day so fixed, shall cause a notice of the election to be published specifying the number of members to be elected, the place to which nomination papers are to be sent and the latest time by which they are to be accepted.

(2) The said notice shall be in the form as nearly as may be of Form A in the Appendix to this Scheme and shall be published once in a daily newspaper circulated in each of the following places, namely, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and such other places as the Council may determine, and in such periodical journals as the Council may determine.

Nomination

7.—(1) Each candidate for election shall be nominated on a separate nomination paper signed by a proposer and seconder being teachers in the candidate’s category of employment and supported by five others in the same category at the date of signature.

(2) (a) Each nomination paper shall be in the form as nearly as may be of Form B in the Appendix to this Scheme and shall state only the name and private address of the nominated candidate, the educational establishment in which the candidate is employed and the category of employment, and also the names and registration numbers of the proposer, seconder and the five other supporters.

(b) The nomination paper shall also be signed by the nominee to signify willingness to be nominated and to confirm that the candidate is employed both in the educational establishment and in the category of employment specified in the nomination paper and that the other particulars so specified are correct.

(c) The nomination paper may be accompanied by further information provided by the candidate for circulation with the ballot papers in accordance with article 9(6) below.

(d) Such further information shall be provided in the form as nearly as may be of Form C in the Appendix to this scheme, and the said further information insofar as it consists of a personal statement by the candidate shall not exceed 100 words in length, its subject matter being directly relevant to the candidate’s candidature.

(3) Any person having the requisite qualifications for nominating or supporting a candidate may nominate or support any number of candidates not exceeding the number to be elected.

(4) (a) Every nomination paper shall, by twelve noon on the last day fixed under article 7 above for receipt of nomination papers, be delivered whether by post or otherwise to the Returning Officer, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, 5 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5AF, or such other address as may be fixed by the Council.

(b) Every nomination paper in respect of which any requirement of this Scheme has not been complied with, or which is not received by the Returning Officer by twelve noon of the last day fixed for the receipt of nomination papers, shall be null and void:

provided that no misnomer or inaccurate or incomplete description of any person or place named in any nomination paper shall invalidate that paper if, in the opinion of the Returning Officer, the description of the person or place is such as to be commonly understood.

(5) The Returning Officer shall, within three days after the last day fixed under article 7 above for the receipt of nomination papers, send a list of the nominated candidates in each category to the candidates in that category and any candidate may within seven days of the dispatch of such list intimate to the Returning Officer in writing that the candidate does not wish to stand for the election and that the nomination is to be withdrawn and any such intimation to the Returning Officer shall be final.

(6) If a candidate validly nominated changes category of employment or dies at or before the last time fixed for the sending in of nomination papers or after that time but before the poll the nomination shall be treated as having been withdrawn.

Roll of electors

8.—(1) The roll of electors in an election year shall consist of the teachers on the register on 15th October of that year.

(2) (a) Subject to sub-paragraphs (e) and (f) below the voting in Voting Category I of the election shall be confined to teachers who are employed in colleges of education on 15th October in an election year.

(b) Subject to sub-paragraphs (e) and (f) below the voting in Voting Category II shall be confined to teachers who are employed in further education centres on 15th October in an election year.

(c) Subject to sub-paragraphs (e) and (f) below the voting in Voting Category III shall be confined to teachers who are employed in secondary schools or departments on 15th October in an election year.

(d) Subject to sub-paragraphs (e) and (f) below the voting in Voting Category IV shall be confined to teachers who are employed in primary schools or departments on 15th October in an election year.

(e) A teacher employed on 15th October in an election year in two or more categories of employment may vote in one only of the corresponding voting categories, namely the category appearing against the teacher’s name on the register.

(f) A teacher who on 15th October in an election year is not employed in any of the categories of employment mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) above may, notwithstanding, vote in respect of one of those categories if the teacher has been employed at any time in that category or if the teacher holds a qualification which would enable the teacher to be employed in that category.

Conduct of the election

9.  The election of the persons to represent teachers shall be conducted in the following manner:—

(1) If the number of duly and properly nominated candidates in a category does not exceed the number of persons to be elected in that category the Returning Officer shall forthwith declare the said candidates to be elected.

(2) If the number of duly and properly nominated candidates in a category exceeds the number of persons to be elected in that category the Returning Officer shall cause ballot papers and identification envelopes to be prepared.

(3) The ballot paper for a category shall be in the form as nearly as may be of Form D in the Appendix to this Scheme and shall contain only the names, addresses and places of employment of all the persons duly and properly nominated as candidates for that category, shall state the last day and time by which the ballot paper may be received and the place to which it is to be returned.

(4) The identification envelopes shall be in the form as nearly as may be of Form E in the Appendix to this Scheme.

(5) The Returning Officer shall, at least twenty-one days prior to the last time fixed for the receipt of ballot papers, such time being not later than twelve noon on 30th November, cause to be forwarded by post to each person qualified to take part in the election at the registered address a ballot paper appropriate to the category of the person together with an identification envelope and each teacher shall be entitled to receive one ballot paper appropriate to the category or where a teacher has two or more categories, the category chosen under article 8(2)(e) above, and one identification envelope, and it shall not be lawful to vote otherwise than by using the ballot paper provided by the Returning Officer.

(6) The ballot paper referred to in paragraph (3) above shall where appropriate be accompanied by a copy of the further information provided by the candidates in terms of article 7(2)(c) and (d) of this Scheme, unless in the Returning Officer’s opinion publication is likely to expose the Council to legal liability.

(7) (a) Each elector shall—

(i) vote by marking the ballot paper delivered to the elector with an “X” against the name or names of the person or persons (not exceeding the number of persons to be elected) for whom the elector votes and shall place the ballot paper folded face inwards in the appropriate identification envelope and shall seal this securely; and

(ii) sign the declaration printed on the said envelope, place the said envelope inside a covering envelope which shall then be sealed and sent by post or otherwise to the Returning Officer.

(b) Every ballot paper in respect of which any requirement of this Scheme has not been complied with or on which the elector has placed any mark whereby the elector may be afterwards identified or which is not received by the Returning Officer by twelve noon on the last day fixed for the receipt of ballot papers shall be null and void.

(8) (a) The Returning Officer immediately after the last time fixed for the receipt of ballot papers shall cause the validity of the votes to be ascertained by an examination of the identification envelopes and by such other evidence if any as the Returning Officer may think necessary and shall cause such of the identification envelopes as are found to be valid to be opened and the ballot papers withdrawn, kept folded face inwards, and placed in a separate ballot box dependent upon the category in which the said vote is appropriate.

(b) When all the ballot papers have been transferred to the ballot boxes, they shall be examined and counted and the number of valid votes given for each candidate shall be ascertained.

(c) Any candidate or any agent appointed by a candidate may be present during the examination of the identification envelopes and the counting of the ballot papers.

(9) The appropriate number of candidates in each category having the greatest number of votes shall be declared elected by the Returning Officer. In this paragraph “appropriate number” in relation to a category means the number specified in column (4) of the Table in article 4 above in relation to that category. If the same number of votes has been cast in favour of two or more candidates and the addition of a vote would entitle any of such candidates to be elected, the Returning Officer shall determine by lot which of the candidates whose votes are equal shall be declared elected.

(10) At the time of the declaration of the result of the election the Returning Officer shall intimate the name and address of the arbiter to whom any appeal under article 10(2) below may be made.

Powers of returning officer

10.—(1) Any question arising with regard to the validity of a nomination or a ballot paper or otherwise in connection with any election shall be determined by the Returning Officer.

(2) No election shall be invalidated by reason of misdescription or non-compliance with the provisions of this Scheme, or by reason of any miscount or of the non-delivery, loss or miscarriage in the course of post, if the Returning Officer certifies in writing that the election was conducted substantially in accordance with the provisions of this Scheme and if the result of such misdescription, non-compliance, miscount, non-delivery, loss or miscarriage did not affect the result of the election, provided that any unsuccessful candidate or agent appointed by a candidate may within fourteen days after the declaration by the Returning Officer of the result of the election appeal to the arbiter against a certificate given by the Returning Officer under this sub-paragraph and the decision of the arbiter shall be final.

(3) The identification envelopes and ballot papers shall be destroyed by the Returning Officer on the expiry of one calendar month from the date of the declaration of the election unless there shall have been an appeal as provided for under sub-paragraph (2) above, in which event the arbiter shall order the destruction of the said envelopes and ballot papers as soon as may be after the appeal is disposed of.

Notice and publication of results of election

11.  The Returning Officer shall—

(a) forthwith give to every person elected notice in writing of the candidate’s election and shall furnish the Registrar with a list of the persons certified by the Returning Officer to be duly elected showing the number of votes cast for each of the said persons; and

(b) publish the names and addresses of the elected candidates in the same newspapers and other periodicals as those in which the election notice was published under article 6 of this Scheme.

Secrecy of ballot

12.  The Returning Officer, and every person employed in connection with the election, shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of the ballot and shall not communicate to any persons any information as to the manner in which any elector has recorded his vote.

Revocation

13.  The Teaching Council (Scotland) Election Scheme 1970(5) and the Teaching Council (Scotland) (Amendment) Election Scheme 1977(6) are hereby revoked.

APPENDIX

FORM A NOTICE OF ELECTIONTEACHING COUNCIL (SCOTLAND) ACT 1965THE GENERAL TEACHING COUNCIL FOR SCOTLAND

FORM B FORM OF NOMINATION PAPER

FORM C FURTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CANDIDATE

FORM D BALLOT PAPER

FORM E FORM OF IDENTIFICATION ENVELOPE

Rose A. Galt

Chairman

D.I. Sutherland

Registrar

5 Royal Terrace,

Edinburgh

4th October 1989

Explanatory Note

(This Note is not part of the Order)

This Order approves the Scheme of election for teacher-members (other than principals of colleges of education) of the General Teaching Council for Scotland who are required to be elected by virtue of Schedule I to the Teaching Council (Scotland) Act 1965. The Scheme revokes and re-enacts with modifications the Teaching Council (Scotland) Election Schemes of 1970 and 1977. The principal alterations are the requirement of only one notification of the election instead of two, the reduction of the number of supporters to sign the nomination forms from 20 to 5 and the introduction of a voluntary personal statement to be submitted by candidates for circulation with the ballot paper.

(1)

1965 c. 19

(2)

S.I. 1970/706

(3)

S.I. 1977/1980

(4)

Paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 was substituted by S.I. 1970/523

(5)

Approved by S.I. 1970/706

(6)

Approved by S.I. 1977/1980