Clause 53
6:00 pm
Christopher Chope (Christchurch, Conservative)
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: new clause 3—Complaints about transport arrangements—
‘(1) After section 509AE of the Education Act 1996 (complaints about transport arrangements etc for persons of sixth form age in England) insert—
“509AF Complaints about transport arrangements etc for certain young adults
(1) A local education authority may revise a statement prepared under section 508F to change the arrangements specified under subsection (1) of that section if, as a result of a certain young adult’s transport complaint, they have come to consider the change necessary for the purpose mentioned in that subsection.
(2) A local education authority must revise a statement prepared under section 508F to change the arrangements specified under subsection (1) of that section if, as a result of a certain young adult transport complaint, the Secretary of State has directed them to do so.
(3) An authority that revises a statement under subsections (1) or (2) must publish the revised statement and a description of the revision as soon as practicable.
(4) The Secretary of State need not consider whether to exercise any power under sections 496 to 497A (powers to prevent unreasonable exercise of functions, etc) or subsection (2) of this section in response to a matter that is, or could have been, the subject of a certain young adult transport complaint made to him or her unless satisfied that—
(a) the matter has been brought to the notice of the local education authority concerned, and
(b) the authority has had a reasonable opportunity to investigate the matter and respond.
(5) In this section “certain young adult transport complaint” means a complaint that is—
(a) about a local education authority’s exercise of, or failure to exercise, a function under sections 508F to 509AD in relation to certain young adults,
(b) made by a person who is, or will be, a relevant young adult when the matter complained of has effect, or by a parent of such a person, and
(c) made by a “certain young adult” as defined by section 508F (8).
(6) For the purposes of sections 508G(8), 509AB(1) to (5), and 509AD, the revision of a statement under this section is to be treated as the preparation of a statement under section 508F.
(7) Where a local authority has published in a single document a statement prepared under section 508G and a statement prepared under 509AA, the requirement to publish a revised statement under subsection (3) is to be treated as a requirement to publish a version of the document that includes the revised statement.”.
(2) In section 496 of the Education Act 1996 (power of Secretary of State to prevent unreasonable exercise of functions), after subsection (4) (as inserted by section 206(1) of this Act) insert—
“(6) This section is subject to section 509AF (complaints about transport arrangements etc for certain young adults in England).”.
(3) In section 497 of the Education Act 1996 (general default powers of Secretary of State), after subsection (6) insert—
“(7) This section is subject to section 509AF (complaints about transport arrangements etc for certain young adults in England).”.
(4) In section 497A of the Education Act 1996 (power of Secretary of State to secure proper performance of LEA’s functions), at end insert—
“(9) This section is subject to section 509AF (complaints about transport arrangements etc for certain young adults in England).”.’.—(Annette Brooke.)
New clause 4—Power of the Secretary of State to direct a review of arrangements—
‘(1) The Secretary of State may direct one or more local authorities to undertake a review of their transport policy statement.
(2) The provision which may be made by a direction includes provision for—
(a) the timetable for the review and for the preparation and publication of a scheme,
(b) the procedures to be followed in carrying out the review,
(c) particular issues which the review and any scheme must address, and
(d) the implementation of any policy.’.