Winding-up of foundation bodies
25.—(1) If membership of a group would fall below three as a result of one or more schools leaving or being discontinued then—
(a)the clerk shall inform the Secretary of State that this is the case;
(b)the notice to leave given by the school or the publication of the proposals to discontinue shall be taken as a notice of dissolution;
(c)the foundation body shall be dissolved on such date as the Secretary of State may by order specify;
(d)the governing body of each school in the group (other than a school which is to be discontinued) shall apply to the local education authority for their own instrument of government to be modified (so that references to the foundation body can be removed as from the dissolution date); and
(e)the governing body of a foundation school shall replace foundation governors with partnership governors as from the dissolution date unless by that date it has either applied to join another group or has applied, together with the governing bodies of two or more other schools, for the establishment of a foundation body.
(2) The governing body of a voluntary school must publish change of category proposals in accordance with the Change of Category Regulations to become a foundation or community school, if (as the case may be) within 6 months of the date of the notice to leave given by the school or within 6 months of the approval of the proposals to discontinue the school it has not—
(a)formed or joined another group; or
(b)established a foundation, other than a foundation body, which satisfies the Secretary of State that it can meet any requirements that may be specified from time to time under paragraph 4(2)(b) of Schedule 8 to the 1998 Act.
(3) At any time after the expiry of the relevant 6 months period referred to in paragraph (2) above, the Secretary of State can require the governing body of a school to publish proposals for the school to change to another specified category.
(4) Subject to paragraph (5), in the case of a school which is not being discontinued, on the dissolution date any land or other property which immediately before that date is held by the foundation body for the purposes of the schools in the group and used for the purposes of that school shall be transferred to, and by virtue of this regulation vest in, the governing body of the school.
(5) Paragraph (4) does not apply in relation to a school where, following approval of proposals published in accordance with the Change of Category Regulations, the school becomes on or before the dissolution date a school of another category.