Education Act 1944

Section 15.

THIRD SCHEDULESPECIAL AGREEMENTS IN RESPECT OF CERTAIN VOLUNTARY SCHOOLS.

1Where proposals for the establishment of a school or for the alteration of the premises of a school have been submitted to a former authority, within the time limited by subsection (2) of section eight of the [26 Geo. 5. & 1 Edw. 8. c. 41.] Education Act, 1936, with a view to the making of an agreement under that section, but the said proposals have not been carried out before the date of the commencement of Part II of this Act, a local education authority shall have power to make an agreement in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule in respect of those proposals or in respect of any revised proposals submitted to the authority in accordance with those provisions :

Provided that no such agreement shall have effect unless it is approved by the Minister, and no such agreement shall be made or approved unless the authority and the Minister are satisfied that the performance thereof will facilitate the execution of provisions relating to school accommodation for senior pupils contained or proposed to be contained in the development plan for the area.

2If upon the application of any persons interested in any such proposals the Minister is satisfied that by reason of the passing of this Act or the making of any regulations thereunder, or by reason of movement of population or of any action taken or proposed to be taken under the enactments relating to housing or to town and country planning, or by reason of war damage, it is desirable that the proposals should be revised, the Minister may give directions authorising a local education authority, in lieu of making an agreement in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule with respect to those proposals, to make such an agreement with respect to any revised proposals submitted to the authority before the expiration of such period as may be specified in the directions, being proposals which appear to the authority to serve substantially the same purpose as the proposals originally submitted.

3No agreement shall be made under this Schedule after the expiration of six months or such extended period as the Minister may in any particular case allow from the date upon which the local education order for the area of the local education authority first comes into force.

4Any such agreement shall provide for the making of a grant by the local education authority to persons specified in the agreement in consideration of the execution by those persons of the proposals to which the agreement relates.

5The amount of the grant to be made in pursuance of any such agreement shall not be less than one half or more than three quarters of the cost of executing the proposals to which the agreement relates.

6Where the agreement relates to proposals for the establishment of a school submitted to the local education authority for the County Borough of Liverpool, the authority may, if the agreement so provides, discharge their liabilities under the agreement by providing premises for the school and executing a lease of those premises to such persons as may be specified in the agreement for the purpose of enabling a voluntary school to be conducted thereon.

Any such lease shall provide for the reservation of a yearly rent of an amount not less than one nor more than two per cent. of the cost incurred by the authority in providing the premises for the school.

7Any agreement made under this Schedule may provide for the giving of religious instruction in the school in accordance with the provisions of the trust deed relating to the school, or, where provision for that purpose is not made by such a deed, in accordance with the practice observed in the school before it became a voluntary school, and for the employment in the school, for the purpose of giving such religious instruction, of such number of reserved teachers as may be specified in the agreement.

8Any agreement made by a local education authority under this Schedule may be varied by a further agreement between the authority and the managers or governors of the school to which the agreement relates, or in such other manner, if any, as may be specified in the agreement.

9Where a grant has been made in respect of any school in pursuance of an agreement made under this Schedule, the managers or governors of the school may, at any time while the school is a special agreement school, repay the grant to the local education authority by which the school is maintained.

10Where an agreement has been made under this Schedule in relation to any school, then, until the proposals to which the agreement relates have been carried out, the provisions of this Act relating to the respective obligations of the managers or governors of voluntary schools and the local education authority in respect of repairs and alterations to the premises of the school shall not have effect in relation to that school, but the respective obligations of the managers or governors of the school and the local education authority in relation to those matters shall be such as may be determined by agreement between the managers or governors and the authority, or, in default of such agreement, by the Minister.

11Where any local authority have, before the date of the commencement of Part II of this Act, made an agreement under the powers conferred by section eight of the Education Act, 1936, with respect to proposals submitted to the authority within the time limited by subsection (2) of that section, then :—

(a)if the said proposals have been carried out before that date the agreement shall be deemed to have been made under this Schedule, and the provisions of this Act relating to special agreements shall have effect accordingly ;

(b)if the said proposals have not been carried out before that date, the agreement shall cease to have effect, but without prejudice to the making of a further agreement under this Schedule with respect to those proposals or with respect to any revised proposals submitted to the authority in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule.