Education and Inspections Act 2006

Intervention by Secretary of State

67 Power of Secretary of State to appoint additional governors

(1) If at any time a maintained school is eligible for intervention by virtue of—

(a) section 61 (school requiring significant improvement), or

(b) section 62 (school requiring special measures),

the Secretary of State may appoint such number of additional governors as he thinks fit; and he may nominate one of those governors to be the chairman of the governing body in place of any person who has been elected as chairman of that body.

(2) Before making any such appointment, the Secretary of State must consult—

(a) the local education authority,

(b) the governing body of the school,

(c) in the case of a foundation or voluntary school which is a Church of England school or a Roman Catholic Church school, the appropriate diocesan authority, and

(d) in the case of any other foundation or voluntary school, the person or persons by whom the foundation governors are appointed.

(3) A governor appointed under this section—

(a) shall hold office as governor for such term, and

(b) if nominated as chairman of the governing body, shall be chairman of that body for such period,

as the Secretary of State may determine.

(4) The Secretary of State may pay to any governor appointed under this section such remuneration and allowances as the Secretary of State may determine.

(5) In relation to any appointment made by the Secretary of State by virtue of subsection (1) to the governing body of a school, the instrument of government for the school shall have effect as if (despite anything in regulations under section 19 of EA 2002) it provided for the Secretary of State to appoint such number of additional governors as he thinks fit.

(6) Where the Secretary of State has exercised his power under this section in relation to a school, then—

(a) in any such case—

(i) the local education authority may not exercise their power under section 66(1) or paragraph 1 of Schedule 15 to SSFA 1998 to suspend the governing body’s right to a delegated budget, and

(ii) if they have already exercised either of those powers, the Secretary of State must, if requested to do so by the governing body, revoke the suspension; and

(b) in the case of a voluntary aided school, nothing in regulations under section 19 of EA 2002 is to be read as authorising the appointment of foundation governors for the purpose of outnumbering the other governors as augmented by those appointed by the Secretary of State under this section.

(7) The revocation of a suspension under subsection (6)(a)—

(a) must be notified to the local education authority in writing, and

(b) takes effect from such date as is specified in that notification.

68 Power of Secretary of State to direct closure of school

(1) If at any time a maintained school is eligible for intervention by virtue of section 62 (school requiring special measures), the Secretary of State may give a direction to the local education authority requiring the school to be discontinued on a date specified in the direction.

(2) Before giving a direction under subsection (1), the Secretary of State must consult—

(a) the local education authority and the governing body of the school,

(b) in the case of a foundation or voluntary school which is a Church of England school or a Roman Catholic Church school, the appropriate diocesan authority,

(c) in the case of any other foundation or voluntary school, the person or persons by whom the foundation governors are appointed,

(d) in the case of a school which provides education suitable to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age, the Learning and Skills Council for England, and

(e) such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(3) On giving a direction under subsection (1) the Secretary of State must give notice in writing of the direction to the governing body of the school and its head teacher.

(4) Where the local education authority are given a direction under subsection (1), they must discontinue the school in question on the date specified in the direction; and nothing in sections 15 to 17 of this Act or in section 30 of SSFA 1998 applies to their discontinuance of the school under this section.

(5) In this section any reference to the discontinuance of a maintained school is a reference to the local education authority ceasing to maintain it.

69 Power of Secretary of State to provide for governing body to consist of interim executive members

(1) If at any time a maintained school is eligible for intervention by virtue of—

(a) section 61 (school requiring significant improvement), or

(b) section 62 (school requiring special measures),

the Secretary of State may give the governing body a notice in writing stating that, as from the date specified in the notice, the governing body are to be constituted in accordance with Schedule 6 (governing bodies consisting of interim executive members).

(2) Before exercising the power conferred by subsection (1), the Secretary of State must consult—

(a) the local education authority,

(b) the governing body of the school,

(c) in the case of a foundation or voluntary school which is a Church of England school or a Roman Catholic Church school, the appropriate diocesan authority, and

(d) in the case of any other foundation or voluntary school, the person or persons by whom the foundation governors are appointed.

(3) The Secretary of State need not consult the persons mentioned in subsection (2)(b), (c) and (d) if the local education authority have consulted them under subsection (2) of section 65 in relation to a proposed notice under subsection (1) of that section.