The Education (School Organisation Proposals) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

These Regulations amend: the Education (School Organisation Proposals) (England) Regulations 1999 (No 2213) (“the School Proposals Regulations”); the Education (School Organisation Committees) (England) Regulations 1999 (No 700), (“the SOC Regulations”) and the Education (References to Adjudicator) Regulations 1999 (No 702) (“the Adjudicator Regulations”).

The School Proposals Regulations generally prescribe various matters relating to proposals for the establishment, alteration and discontinuance of schools maintained by local education authorities.

Regulation 3 amends regulation 9 of the School Proposals Regulations (which prescribes events which can be specified in a conditional approval) so as to: (a) update the referral to the entering into of a private financial transaction to the issuing of private finance credit approval or approval of capital grant in an equivalent arrangement for voluntary aided schools; and (b) add a new condition (save for where covered by (a)) being the agreement for building projects in connection with the Building Schools for the Future programme.

Regulation 4 amends paragraph 3A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 (which prescribes the types of alterations for which proposals must be published) to the School Proposals Regulations to make it a requirement to publish proposals where the lower age limit is raised by at least a year.

The SOC Regulations make provision for the constitution of and aspects of the proceedings of School Organisation Committees and the Schedule to these Regulations prescribes the composition of the school’s group.

Regulation 10 amends the Schedule to the SOC Regulations. It amends paragraph 1 to take account of the omission of paragraph 4; it amends paragraph 2 with the effect that the proviso that there is at least one school of a certain type in the area applies to each of the types of the school and a new type - maintained nursery schools- has been added; paragraph 3(2) is amended so as to avoid a potential contradiction between paragraphs 3(2) and 2; and paragraph 4 is omitted.

Regulations 6 - 9 make other consequential amendments to the SOC Regulations.

The Adjudicator Regulations make provision for determining the allocation to adjudicators of matters referred to “the adjudicator”.

Regulation 12 amends regulation 2 of the Adjudicator Regulations so as to allow references to be made to more than one adjudicator.

Regulation 13 adds a new regulation to the Adjudicator Regulations which specifies the decision-making process in cases where there is more than one adjudicator.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the costs of business.