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After Clause 3, insert the following new clause--

Change in character of primary school relating to nursery education
(". After section 41 of the Education Act 1996 there shall be inserted--
"Change in character of primary school relating to nursery education.
41A.--(1) Subject to subsection (2), references in section 41 to a significant change in the character of a school do not include, in the case of a primary school, any change resulting only from persons beginning or ceasing to be provided with full-time or part-time education suitable to the requirements of junior pupils who have not obtained compulsory school age if the local education authority have consented in writing to the change.
(2) Where the governing body of a primary school propose to make a change which, by virtue of subsection (1), is not a significant change in the character of the school they shall--
(a) before implementing their proposals carry out such consultation (if any) as appears to them to be appropriate and in doing so shall have regard to any guidance given from time to time by the Secretary of State, and
(b) where the school is a Church in Wales school, a Church of England school or a Roman Catholic school, before implementing their proposals obtain the consent in writing of the appropriate diocesan authority.
(3) In this section "appropriate diocesan authority" has the meaning given by section 311(1).".").

The right reverend Prelate said: My Lords, in moving this amendment, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 116, which is an amendment consequential on the Education Act 1996.

This amendment makes provision for the establishment or the removal of a nursery class from a voluntary school without the necessity to publish proposals and to obtain the approval of the Secretary of State. The issue here is simple. Voluntary-aided or controlled schools are disadvantaged in attempting to establish a nursery class in relation to county schools. As I understand it, the position is that county schools have to obtain the approval of the LEA and, having done so, publish proposals. If there is no objection to the proposals, the decision stands; whereas voluntary

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schools are required to publish proposals and whether or not there are objections, they are then required to obtain the approval of the Secretary of State. Therefore, there is a double hoop through which the voluntary schools have to jump. It is that voluntary hoop which this amendment attempts to remove, so that there is only the single hoop--namely, the LEA--which must be gone through.

When I spoke about this matter in Committee, I made the point that there could be significant disadvantage to voluntary schools caused by the fact that there would have been a time lapse. The permission of the LEA may have been obtained and the funds would be made available from the budget. The approval of the Secretary of the State would need to be obtained and it may very well be the case that by the time that approval had been obtained, the financial year had elapsed and the money was no longer available.

I should like to make a further point in relation to this amendment. Not only is there the possibility of a time lapse but there is also the possibility that the Secretary of State will reach a different conclusion from the LEA. That is why I speak of the double hoop which must be jumped.

I give an example from the Diocese of Chester to make the point which I am trying to establish. In the past six years in the Diocese of Chester, the Diocesan Board of Education has twice received the support of LEAs for establishing nursery classes. In fact, they related to different LEAs. The first related to Trafford LEA and the school concerned was St. Mary's School, Sale. Trafford had a long-standing policy of establishing nurseries throughout the authority and that particular school, with the support of both the LEA and the Chester Diocesan Board of Education, was in 1995 approved as part of that policy.

The diocesan director of education then received a letter reminding him that the approval of nursery proposals would be given only when the proposals could be implemented without recourse to the Secretary of State's budget or when a particularly strong case exists. It is that latter phrase to which I wish to draw attention--"when a particularly strong case exists". Who decides when such a case exists?

Clearly for voluntary schools, it must be both the LEA and the Secretary of State. The diocese was advised that a factor which might constitute a strong case was that a school served an area of significant deprivation, but the department concluded that the information provided by the LEA indicated that the area served by the school was no worse off than Trafford taken as a whole. So the department's decision, recommended to the Secretary of State, was different from the LEA's decision. It is quite clear that in that particular case, had the school not been a voluntary school, it would by now have had a nursery.

The second proposal in that particular diocese to which an LEA agreed was in central Birkenhead. Wirral LEA decided that it could finally provide the revenue resources to support a nursery at the Priory School, which is a voluntary school in the neighbourhood. This

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is an area of severe social deprivation and the diocese was confident that the proposal would be successful. However, the department indicated to the LEA that it felt there were sufficient places within a two-mile radius and that the building costs for the nursery were too high. The LEA responded that there was in fact a shortage of suitable places for children around the school as five out of six nurseries were on the other side of the docks and there was no way in which children of any age could be expected to cross the docks to attend a school on the other side. There was only one nursery on the alternative side of the docks which had already had to be extended to meet the demand. Parental demand for a nursery at the Priory was high but a letter of rejection came from the department, as a result of the Secretary of State's decision, stating:

"On a careful and impartial consideration of all the information available to us, we concluded that there was no basis for treating the proposals as a special case".

The point that I am making is that county schools do not have to convince the Secretary of State of the need for the establishment of a nursery class, unless there is an objection to the published proposals. The voluntary schools have to convince two groups: they have to convince the LEA and they have to convince the Secretary of State, through the department. It is that double hurdle that provides the difficulty.

The amendment seeks to provide, in a well-worn phrase, a level playing field so that voluntary schools can have the same opportunity of establishing nursery classes as have county schools. When I moved a similar amendment in Committee, the noble Baroness, Lady Farrington, raised a difficulty. Therefore, I am moving it today in a significantly different form; namely, that the lifting of the necessity for proposals as regards the Secretary of State's decision shall only happen if the LEA has consented in writing to the change. We do not wish in any way to set aside the partnership that exists with LEAs but we want voluntary schools to have that double hurdle removed.

When I moved an amendment in Committee, the Minister talked about cherry picking because he believed that the voluntary sector was looking at only one element of deregulation and not at the whole package which is being offered in the Bill. I should like to ask the Minister to look at this amendment not so much in the context of deregulation but rather in the context of the particular issue which I have raised. It is a genuine issue regarding something which creates a good deal of difficulty. Whatever our attitude might be towards deregulation, the issue remains. Therefore, when he responds, I hope that the Minister will look at the circumstances that I have described. I also hope that he will consider the issue raised by this particular disadvantage to see whether or not there is some way in which he can move towards meeting the concerns that I have expressed. I beg to move.

6.30 p.m.

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton: My Lords, it is with great pleasure that from these Benches we are able to support the amendment moved by the right reverend Prelate. As he said in his introduction to the amendment,

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it would produce a situation which was fair across the voluntary-aided and county-maintained sector and would create circumstances in which it was possible to plan to achieve the ultimate objective which my party supports of ensuring nursery education for all children whose parents want it.

At present, it is possible for the Secretary of State to block proper planning and to do so in the absence of the detailed knowledge that exists at local level. LEAs work very closely with diocesan authorities and representatives in order to ensure that the provision meets the needs of the particular profile of the local community. At the moment in the local authority of which I am a member--and therefore declare an interest--Lancashire County Council, the Secretary of State has turned down six proposals for nursery units to be attached to primary schools. The tragedy is that the Secretary of State has turned down those proposals because of the availability of alternative nursery provision. That alternative provision to which the Secretary of State refers, is, in five out of six schools, satisfactory nursery provision (in the Secretary of State's view) in that it is early admission to reception classes. In the case of Lancashire County Council, not only do we allow children to have a full year in the reception class but we also make provision at nursery level to recognise the needs of those children who are under statutory school age.

That policy was agreed by the whole community. It was agreed across the political parties; it was agreed by the diocesan representatives on the education committee; and, indeed, it was agreed across the whole community in a series of meetings. However, it was not agreed to as an alternative to nursery education but as a half-way house. It is with particular sadness that the parents of those children who would benefit from that nursery provision are having their aspirations blocked by the Secretary of State simply because the Secretary of State is allowed to penalise schools which have to apply to her or him in order to gain approval to develop nursery provision. That is grossly unfair. It is an unreasonable level of discrimination and, as the right reverend Prelate said, demonstrates the lack of a level playing field.

One of the schools which has been turned down is a school in Ormskirk; that is, in the absence of nursery provision in the immediate community. In Lancashire we have taken a view, as have most education authorities, to look, first, at the areas of greatest social need. Yet, despite that fact, our voluntary-aided schools are judged unequally and are given this unfair hurdle to cross. Moreover, they have the additional problem to face; namely, that those who make the decisions in Whitehall do so without having the detailed local knowledge to which the diocesan representatives, the voluntary-aided school governors and parents have an intimate access. I beg the Minister to accept the amendment.

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