The Education (School Organisation Proposals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make further amendments to the Education (School Organisation Proposals) (England) Regulations 1999 (the “Principal Regulations”).

The principal changes are:–

(a) the definition of “capacity” is amended so that capacity is determined by reference to Department for Education and Skills Guidance (regulation 3(b)). Copies of this Guidance may be obtained from DfES Publications, PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham NG15 ODJ Email [e-mail];

(b) provision is made for prescribing alterations which must be published by the governing body of a community school in the light of the amendment made to section 28 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 by section 73 of the Education Act 2000 (regulations 4 and 13(e));

(c) the period within which objections to or comments on the proposals may be submitted which was two months is shortened to six weeks (regulations 7 and 16);

(d) regulation 9 of the Principal Regulations is amended to add the agreement to a specified change in admission arrangements relating to any other school as an event which can be referred to in a conditional approval (regulation 8(c) and (d));

(e) new provision is made (regulations 10A and 10B of the Principal Regulations inserted by regulation 10 with a consequential provision in regulation 17) imposing limitations on the School Organisation Committee’s new power to refer matters to the adjudicator and on the local education authority’s powers to refer matters to the School Organisation Committee;

(f) new provision is made (regulation 10C of the Principal Regulations inserted by regulation 10) covering references to the adjudicator if certain proposals are rejected by the School Organisation Committee. These provisions relate to paragraph 3(6A) to (6C) of Schedule 6 to the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 inserted by Schedule 10 to the Education Act 2002;

(g) regulation 12 of the Principal Regulations is amended to require the School Organisation Committee to send copies of proposals to the Learning and Skills Council for England if they relate to sixth form education (regulation 11);

(h) the provisions in Schedule 1 to the Principal Regulations prescribing a change to the lower age limit as a “prescribed alteration” are amended (regulation 13(c) and (d));

(i) Schedule 2 to the Principal Regulations is amended so as to require the published notice of proposals to state if any admission number is lower than the “indicated admission number” and if so to state the “indicated admission number” (regulation 14(d) and (f));

(j) Schedules 2 and 3 to the Principal Regulations are amended so as to require any body publishing proposals to establish a new school to include in the published notice and in the information sent to the School Organisation Committee certain information relating to community cohesion (regulations 14(b) and 15(d));

(k) Schedule 3 to the Principal Regulations is also amended to reflect the introduction of the VCE examination (regulation 15(a) and (i)).

Other minor amendments are consequential on the Education Act 2002. They include changes consequential on the conversion of city academies into Academies, changes consequential on the coming to an end of standard numbers, the extension of provisions relating to information to be included in a published notice or provided to the School Organisation Committee to proposals under section 71(5) of the Education Act 2002, changes consequential on the extension of the provisions relating to objections to cover comments, on provision for new schools to be able to be part of federations and on the requirement that proposals should be published to establish a maintained nursery school.