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back to previous amendments
| 160 | Insert the following new Clause— |
| | "Co-ordination of admission arrangements |
| (1) | Chapter 1 of Part 3 of SSFA 1998 (admission arrangements) is amended as follows. |
| (2) | In section 89B (co-ordination of admission arrangements), in subsection (1)(a) after "area" insert "with a view to securing for each pupil a guaranteed place at a school and the opportunity to apply for a place at all other schools in their area". |
| (3) | In subsection (2) of that section after "schools" insert ", city academy or city technology college"." |
| 161 | Insert the following new Clause— |
| | "Opening up of admission arrangements |
| | After section 89 of SSFA 1998 (procedure for determining admission procedure) insert— |
| "89ZA | Opening up of admission arrangements |
| (1) | On or before 31st July 2010 the admission arrangements of any maintained school, city academy or city technology college shall provide that subject to subsection (3) below, 25 per cent of places shall be available for allocation by unconditional ballot. |
| (2) | No account may be taken of the order of parental preference. |
| (3) | Priority shall be given to those children who have been allocated a "guaranteed" place."" |
| | THE BARONESS WALMSLEY
THE BARONESS SHARP OF GUILDFORD |
| 162 | Insert the following new Clause— |
| | "Independent review of admission arrangements |
| (1) | The Secretary of State shall, within one year of the passing of this Act, appoint an independent body to review the arrangements in England relating to the admission of secondary school pupils and to make recommendations as appropriate. |
| (2) | The body shall be known as the Independent Review of Arrangements for Admission to Secondary Education in England, and for the purposes of this section as the Independent Review Body. |
| (3) | The Independent Review Body's remit shall include the workings of admission arrangements under Part 3 of SSFA 1998 (as amended by sections 37 to 49 of this Act) and new enactments under section 37(1) to (3) of this Act, and in particular it shall consider the degree to which admission arrangements are helping, or otherwise, to promote social integration, diversity and community cohesion. |
| (4) | The Independent Review Body shall invite representations and evidence from— |
| (a) | teacher associations; |
| (c) | parents and governors; |
| (d) | pupils in secondary schools; |
| (f) | such other persons as it considers appropriate. |
| (5) | The Secretary of State shall provide the Independent Review Body with sufficient resources to enable it to commission research into the workings of the new admission arrangements and their impact on community and social cohesion. |
| (6) | The Independent Review Body shall report to the Secretary of State, who shall lay the report before Parliament no later than October 2008. |
| (7) | Following the receipt of the report under subsection (6), the Secretary of State shall enter into discussions with such bodies as he considers appropriate and report within six months to Parliament as to how he intends to implement the recommendations." |
| 162A | Insert the following new Clause— |
| | "Reports on school admissions |
| (1) | A local education authority in England may prepare and publish reports on such matters connected with the admission of pupils to maintained schools, Academies or city technology colleges in that area as may be prescribed. |
| (2) | For the purposes of the preparation of a report under subsection (1), a local education authority may request any of the following bodies to provide the authority with any information held by them which falls within a prescribed description and is specified by the authority in its request— |
| (a) | the governing body of any maintained school, Academy or city technology college in the area which the local education authority has responsibility or whose catchment area falls within that area; |
| (b) | any local education authority in England for an area which adjoins the area of the authority requesting the information. |
| (3) | A body mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (2) must comply with a request made by a local education authority in pursuance of that subsection." |
| | THE BARONESS WALMSLEY
THE BARONESS SHARP OF GUILDFORD |
| 162B | Page 29, line 44, leave out first "of" and insert "and their" |
| | THE BARONESS BUSCOMBE
THE LORD RIX |
| 163 | Page 30, line 2, at end insert "and no-one shall be appointed to provide such advice and assistance unless he has demonstrated an understanding of special educational needs and disability legislation" |
| 163A | Page 30, line 2, at end insert "and this shall include a duty to set up a Schools' Information Centre to supply information to parents and children about the publicly funded schools in its area, wherever this is practicable, at which every school which chooses to do so will be given facilities to put forward its educational philosophy" |
| 164 | Page 30, line 2, at end insert— |
| "( ) | The authority shall ensure the parents of a child for whom a statement is maintained under section 324 of Education Act 1996 are given sufficient advice under subsection (1A) about the possible options open to them, including provision in both mainstream and special schools." |
| | THE BARONESS WALMSLEY
THE BARONESS SHARP OF GUILDFORD |
| 165 | Page 30, line 2, at end insert— |
| "( ) | In exercising their duties under subsection (1A) the local education authority shall act in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of State."" |
| 165A | Page 30, line 2, at end insert— |
| "(1B) | The advice and assistance provided under subsection (1A) shall at all times be provided in the best interests of the child and his parents, and shall take no account of local education authority boundaries or policies."" |
| 166 | Insert the following new Clause— |
| | "Duty of governing body to implement decisions relating to admissions |
| (1) | In section 88 of SSFA 1998 (admission authorities and admission arrangements), after subsection (1) insert— |
| "(1A) | Where the admission authority for a community or voluntary controlled school is the local education authority, it is the duty of the governing body to implement any decision relating to the admission of pupils to the school which is taken by or on behalf of the admission authority. |
| (1B) | Subsection (1A) does not affect— |
| (a) | any right of appeal which the governing body may have by virtue of arrangements made in pursuance of section 95(2) (appeals in relation to children to whom section 87(2) applies, other than looked after children in England), |
| (b) | any right to refer the matter to the adjudicator which the governing body may have by virtue of section 95A(3) (references to the adjudicator in relation to looked after children in England to whom section 87(2) applies), or |
| (c) | the application of section 101(2A) or section 109(2)." |
| (2) | In section 86(2) of SSFA 1998 (duty to comply with parental preference) for "a local education authority and the governing body of a maintained school" substitute "the admission authority for a maintained school". |
| (3) | In section 89C of SSFA 1998 (co-ordinated schemes for admission arrangements)— |
| (a) | in subsection (3) for "by virtue of this section" substitute "by virtue of section 89B", and |
| (b) | after subsection (3) insert— |
| "(3A) | Where any decision as to whether a child is to be granted or refused admission to a maintained school is (by virtue of regulations under subsection (3)) made by the local education authority although they are not the admission authority, the governing body of the school must implement the decision." |
| (4) | In section 94(1) of SSFA 1998 (responsibility of local authority to make appeal arrangements) in paragraph (b) for the words from the beginning to "the authority" substitute "in a case where the governing body of a community or voluntary controlled school maintained by the authority are the admission authority"." |
| | THE BARONESS WALMSLEY
THE BARONESS SHARP OF GUILDFORD |
| 166A | Page 30, line 6, after "school" insert "or Academy, city technology college or city college for the technology of the arts" |
| 169 | Page 30, line 10, at end insert "unless the interview is conducted in connection with the admissions of pupils to the school for secondary education suitable to the requirements of pupils who are over compulsory school age" |
| 170 | Page 30, line 10, at end insert "unless the interview is conducted solely for the purpose of assessing religious or denominational commitment where the school is designated as having a religious character under section 69(3) and such interviewing is provided for in their admission arrangements and oversubscription criteria for the school" |
| 171 | Insert the following new Clause— |
| | "Admission arrangements for schools with religious character: consultation and objections |
| | In section 89 of SSFA 1998 (procedure for determining admission arrangements) in subsection (2)— |
| (a) | omit the "and" at the end of paragraph (c), and |
| (b) | after paragraph (d) insert "and |
| 11 | (e) in the case of a foundation or voluntary school which has a religious character for the purposes of Part 2, such body or person representing the religion or religious denomination in question as may be prescribed."" |
| | THE LORD LUCAS
[As an amendment to amendment 171] |
| 171A | Line 11, at end insert— |
| "(2) | In section 90 of that Act after subsection (3) insert— |
| "(3A) | In reaching his decision, the adjudicator shall have reference to the desirability of a school being open to pupils of all backgrounds."" |
| | THE BARONESS WALMSLEY
THE BARONESS SHARP OF GUILDFORD |
| 171B | Page 31, line 3, leave out from "arrangements" to ", and" in line 7 and insert "comply fully with sections 37 to 41 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and the modifications made by those sections to admission arrangements in Part 3 of this Act" |
| 172 | Page 32, line 37, leave out from "arrangements" to end of line 38 |
| 173 | Page 32, line 44, leave out from "arrangements" to "and" in line 45 and insert "in the light of his decision on the objection" |
| 174 | Insert the following new Clause— |
| | "Appeal by way of case stated from adjudicator |
| (1) | If any party to proceedings before the adjudicator is dissatisfied on point of law with a decision of the adjudicator, he may require the adjudicator to state and sign a case for the opinion of the High Court. |
| (2) | The adjudicator may, in the course of proceedings before it, state in the form of a special case for the decision of the High Court, any question of law arising on the proceedings; and a decision of the High Court on a case stated by virtue of this subsection shall be deemed to be a judgment of the Court within the meaning of section 16 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 (c. 54) (appeals from high court)." |
| 175 | Insert the following new Clause— |
| | "Schools with pre-1998 arrangements for selection by ability or aptitude |
| (1) | Section 100 of SSFA 1998 (permitted selection: pre-existing arrangements) is amended as follows. |
| (2) | In subsection (1) for the words from "so long as" to the end of the subsection substitute "so long as— |
| (a) | the proportion of selective admissions in any relevant age group does not exceed the permitted proportion (as defined by subsection (1A)), and |
| (b) | there is no significant change in the basis of selection." |
| (3) | After subsection (1) insert— |
| "(1A) | In subsection (1)(a), "the permitted proportion", in relation to any relevant age group, means the lowest proportion of selective admissions provided for by the school's admission arrangements at any time since the beginning of the 1997-1998 school year."" |
| 176 | Page 38, line 29, leave out "subsection (2)" and insert "subsections (2) and (2A)" |
| 177 | Page 39, line 11, leave out "make" and insert "introduce" |
| 178 | Page 39, line 12, at end insert "(1) or" |
| | The Lord Lucas gives notice of his intention to oppose the Question that Clause 49 stand part of the Bill. |
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