The Education (Relevant Areas for Consultation on Admission Arrangements) Regulations 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 89(2) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 requires the admission authority for every maintained school to consult other admission authorities before determining the school’s admission arrangements for a school year. Under section 89(2)(b) this includes a duty to consult all admission authorities for schools in “the relevant area”, which is defined by section 89(3) as the local authority’s area or such other area as is determined by or in accordance with regulations. These Regulations make provision for the relevant areas to be determined by local education authorities and, in certain cases, redetermined by the adjudicator or (in Wales) the Secretary of State. They come into force on 1st April 1999.

Regulation 2 defines terms used in the Regulations. Regulation 3 provides that the Regulations will apply in relation to consultation about proposed admission arrangements for the school year 2001/2002 and for later school years. (The relevant areas for admission arrangements for the school year 2000/2001 are determined by S.I. 1998/3165.)

Regulation 4 provides that local education authorities are to determine the relevant areas in accordance with the Regulations. Regulation 5 requires such authorities to draw up proposals for determining the relevant area for consultation about admission arrangements for each local school (meaning a school maintained by the authority). These proposals shall be such that every part of the education authority’s area falls within a relevant area proposed to be determined for at least one primary school and for at least one secondary school. The proposals may provide that different schools, or different groups or categories of schools, will have different relevant areas, or that they will all have the same relevant area. Relevant areas may overlap and may cover part (or all) of the area of another education authority.

Regulation 6 places the education authority under a duty to consult specified authorities on its proposals, which must be communicated in writing and must invite written comments on the proposals within a stated period of not less than 30 days. An education authority is required to consult every neighbouring education authority, every admission authority for a local school, and every admission authority for a school within any proposed relevant area. The education authority must additionally consult the admission authority of any primary school within 1.6 kilometres (just under one mile), or of any secondary school within 4.8 kilometres (just under three miles) from the border of the education authority’s area. The education authority may also consult any other person or body they think fit.

Regulation 7 provides that the education authorities are to determine the relevant area or relevant areas following the consultation. It requires education authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure that they determine the relevant areas for consultation about admission arrangements for the school year 2001/2002 by the end of July 1999. Regulation 8 requires an education authority to notify specified admission authorities in writing of the details of its determination.

Regulation 9 provides for another education authority to object to the adjudicator against a relevant area that has been determined and crosses their border. An objection is to be referred in writing to the adjudicator, who will then invite written representations from specified authorities and other persons he thinks fit. The adjudicator will then redetermine the relevant area, either by confirming the authority’s determination or by specifying some other area. The adjudicator must notify specified authorities in writing of his decision and the reasons for it. Where an objection relates to a relevant area part or all of which lies or would lie in Wales, the objection must be made to and redetermined by the Secretary of State.

Regulation 10 enables determinations and redeterminations to continue in effect for future years. Regulation 11 requires an education authority to review its determination of relevant areas and to follow the consultation and determination provisions of Regulations 5 to 8, and the objection procedure under Regulation 9 will also apply. The review must be within the period of 2 years after the date on which the last determination was made. Where it is decided to make a fresh determination, that determination must not be made later than two years after the latest time by which the education authority’s previous determination must have been made.