Clause 5 - Interpretation of chapter 2
[Part I]Education Bill
6:45 pm
Mr Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West, Conservative)
Under amendment No. 67, I again seek to put a little flesh on the bones of the Bill. The amendment would substitute a slightly broader wording for the current phrase, and I had a clear purpose in tabling it. Under subsection (1), if a school is
''of a prescribed description which satisfies prescribed criteria relating to the performance of, or the quality of leadership in, the school'',
the rights of other interested bodies are not fully taken into account. If the amendment were incorporated into the Bill, there would be a small restriction on the Secretary of State's wide discretion to set out the prescribed criteria, which would be replaced by something a little more informed.
Under the clauses in chapter 2 on exemptions related to school performance, which the Minister would categorise as the earned autonomy measures, my hon. Friends and I shall be seeking a clearer idea of
how autonomy will be earned, how it will work, how the Secretary of State will arrive at the prescribed criteria and what they will be.
Let me now deal with amendment No. 9. Subsection (2) states:
''The criteria prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) may include criteria referring to the opinion of the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales.''
Sadly, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales is not here to enlighten the Committee about the exact procedure in the National Assembly and how it arrives at a corporate opinion in these matters.