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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS


2007 No. 2978

EDUCATION, ENGLAND

The Education (Pupil Referral Units) (Management Committees etc.) (England) Regulations 2007

  Made 16th October 2007 
  Laid before Parliament 23rd October 2007 
  Coming into force
  regulations 1 to 21 13th November 2007 
  regulations 22 and 23 1st February 2008 


CONTENTS


PART 1

GENERAL
1. Citation, commencement and application
2. Interpretation

PART 2

ESTABLISHMENT OF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES
3. Establishment of committees
4. Joint committees
5. Duty to make instrument of government and appoint first members
6. Content of instrument of government
7. Review of instrument of government
8. Other requirements relating to instruments of government

PART 3

CATEGORIES OF MEMBERS
9. Parent members
10. Staff members
11. Authority appointed members
12. Community members
13. Sponsor members

PART 4

COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEES
14. General Principles
15. Notification of appointments

PART 5

QUALIFICATIONS AND TENURE OF OFFICE OF MEMBERS
16. Qualifications and disqualifications
17. Term of Office
18. Resignation
19. Removal of members
20. Procedure for removal of members by the committee

PART 6

PROCEDURES OF COMMITTEES
21. Application of the School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations 2003

PART 7

DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS TO COMMITTEES AND CURRICULUM
22. Delegation of functions
23. Curriculum

  SCHEDULE 1— Election and appointment of members

  SCHEDULE 2— Qualifications and disqualifications

  SCHEDULE 3— Application, with modifications, of the School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations 2003

The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 569(4) and (5) of, and paragraphs 3, 6(2) and 15 of Schedule 1 to, the Education Act 1996[
1]:



PART 1

GENERAL

Citation, commencement, and application
     1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Pupil Referral Units) (Management Committees etc.) (England) Regulations 2007.

    (2) These Regulations, except regulations 22 and 23, come into force on 13th November 2007.

    (3) Regulations 22 and 23 come into force on 1st February 2008.

    (4) These Regulations apply only in relation to England.

Interpretation
    
2. In these Regulations—



PART 2

ESTABLISHMENT OF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES

Establishment of committees
     3. Subject to regulation 4, an authority must establish a committee to act as the management committee of each unit maintained by them—

Joint committees
    
4. An authority may—

Duty to make instrument of government and appoint first members
    
5. An authority must—

Content of instrument of government
    
6. The instrument of government must set out—

Review of instrument of government
    
7. —(1) The committee or the authority may review the instrument of government at any time after it is made.

    (2) Where, on any review, the committee or the authority decide that the instrument of government should be varied, the committee or (as the case may be) the authority must notify the other of their proposed variation together with their reasons for proposing such a variation.

    (3) Where the committee has received notification under paragraph (2), they must inform the authority whether or not they are content with the proposed variation and, if not content, their reasons.

    (4) If—

the instrument of government must be varied accordingly by the authority.

    (5) If paragraph (4) does not apply, the authority must—

the instrument of government must be varied by them either in the manner agreed between them and the committee or (in the absence of such agreement) in such manner as they think fit.

    (6) Where the instrument of government is varied under this regulation, it must set out the date on which the variation takes effect.

Other requirements relating to instruments of government
    
8. —(1) The authority must ensure that the persons set out in paragraph (2) are provided (free of charge) with—

    (2) The persons who are to be provided with the information referred to in paragraph (1) are—



PART 3

CATEGORIES OF MEMBERS

Parent members
    
9. —(1) In these Regulations "parent member" means—

    (2) A person is disqualified from election or appointment as a parent member if he is—

    (3) A person is not disqualified from continuing to hold office as a parent member when he ceases to be a parent of a registered pupil at the unit (or, as the case may be, any unit in the group of units) or to fulfil any of the requirements set out in paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 unless he is otherwise disqualified under these Regulations.

Staff members
    
10. —(1) In these Regulations "staff member" means—

    (2) A person who is eligible for election as a staff member and who is paid to work at that unit for more than 500 hours in each academic year is not eligible for election or appointment as a member under regulation 9, 11, 12 or 13.

    (3) Upon ceasing to work at that unit, a staff member is to be disqualified from continuing to hold office as such a member.

Authority appointed members
    
11. —(1) In these Regulations "authority appointed member" means a person who is appointed as a member by the authority (other than a staff member, a community member, or a sponsor member appointed by the authority under regulation 5(b)).

    (2) A person is disqualified from appointment as an authority appointed member if he is eligible to be a staff member.

Community members
    
12. —(1) In these Regulations "community member" means a person who is appointed as a member by the committee (or by the authority under regulation 5(b)) and who is—

    (2) A person is disqualified from appointment as a community member if he is—

Sponsor members
    
13. In these Regulations "sponsor member" means a person who is nominated as a sponsor member and is appointed as such by the committee in accordance with paragraphs 12 to 14 of Schedule 1 (or is appointed as a sponsor member by the authority under regulation 5(b)).



PART 4

COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEES

General principles
    
14. —(1) The instrument of government is to specify the size and membership of the committee, which is to be no fewer than 7 and no more than 20 members (disregarding any sponsor members).

    (2) The instrument of government is to specify the numbers of members from each of the following categories of member to be elected or appointed—

    (3) In calculating the number of members required in each category in accordance with paragraph (5), the number must be rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.

    (4) In calculating the number of staff members required, the teacher in charge must be included whether or not he has resigned his membership.

    (5) Of the total number of members—

Notification of appointments
    
15. Where any person makes an appointment or nominates a person to be appointed to the committee he must give written notice of the appointment or the nomination to the clerk to the committee, specifying the name and usual place of residence of the person appointed or nominated.



PART 5

QUALIFICATIONS AND TENURE OF OFFICE OF MEMBERS

Qualifications and disqualifications
    
16. Schedule 2 sets out the circumstances in which a person is qualified for or disqualified from holding or continuing in office as a member.

Term of office
    
17. —(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (4), a member is to hold office for a fixed period of four years from the date of his election or appointment.

    (2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to any staff member who is the teacher in charge of a unit, who may hold office for as long as he is the teacher in charge.

    (3) The instrument of government may specify a shorter term of office for a particular category of member, being not less than one year.

    (4) This regulation does not prevent a member from—

Resignation
    
18. —(1) A member may at any time resign his office by giving written notice to the clerk to the committee.

    (2) The teacher in charge of a unit may withdraw his resignation at any time by giving written notice to the clerk to the committee.

Removal of members
    
19. —(1) Any authority appointed member may be removed from office by the authority, who must give written notice thereof to the clerk to the committee, and to the member so removed.

    (2) Any community or sponsor member may be removed from office by the committee in accordance with the procedure set out in regulation 20.

    (3) A nominating body proposing the removal of a community or a sponsor member must inform the clerk to the committee, and the member in question, in writing of the reasons why it is proposing his removal.

    (4) The committee may, in accordance with the procedure set out in regulation 20, remove any community member, or any sponsor member, at the request of the nominating body.

    (5) In this regulation, "nominating body" means any person from whom nominations were sought for the purpose of appointing, and who nominated, the member in question.

    (6) Any parent member appointed by the committee under paragraphs 7 and 8 of Schedule 1 may be removed by the committee in accordance with the procedure set out in regulation 20.

Procedure for removal of members by the committee
    
20. —(1) This regulation applies in relation to the removal of a member from office in accordance with regulation 19.

    (2) A resolution to remove a member from office which is passed at a meeting of the committee will not have effect unless—



PART 6

PROCEDURES OF COMMITTEES

Application of the School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations 2003
    
21. The School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations 2003 apply in relation to units as they apply in relation to maintained schools to the extent and with the modifications prescribed in Schedule 3 (and in those regulations as so applied any expression defined in regulation 2 has the same meaning as in that regulation).



PART 7

DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS TO COMMITTEES AND CURRICULUM

Delegation of functions
    
22. —(1) Subject to paragraph (3), an authority must delegate the functions mentioned in paragraph (2) relating to a unit to the committee, together with such of the authority's powers as are requisite for discharging those functions.

    (2) The functions are—

    (3) Paragraph (1) does not apply to the following—

Curriculum
     23. The authority, committee and teacher in charge of a unit (acting jointly) must make, and from time to time review, a written statement of the policy in relation to the curriculum for the unit.


Kevin Brennan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Department for Children, Schools and Families

16th October 2007



SCHEDULE 1
Regulations 9, 10, and 13


Election and appointment of members


     1. The authority may delegate to the teacher in charge of a unit any of their functions under this Schedule.

Election and appointment of parent members
     2. Subject to paragraphs 1 and 3 to 6, the authority must make all the necessary arrangements for the election of parent members.

     3. The duty imposed by paragraph 2 does not include power to impose any requirements as to the minimum number of votes required to be cast for a member to be elected.

     4. Any election which is contested must be held by ballot.

     5. —(1) The arrangements made under paragraph 2 must provide for every person who is entitled to vote to have an opportunity to do so by post.

    (2) For the purposes of sub–paragraph (1), "post" includes delivery by hand.

    (3) The arrangements made under paragraph 2 may provide for every person who is entitled to vote to have an opportunity to do so by electronic means.

     6. Where a vacancy for a parent member arises, the authority must take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that every person who is known to them to be a parent of a registered pupil at the unit or one of the units is—

     7. The number of parent members required must be made up by parent members appointed by the committee if one or more vacancies for parent members arises and the number of parents standing for election is less than the number of vacancies.

     8. —(1) The committee may only appoint as a parent member—

    (2) The committee may only appoint a person referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(b), (c), (d) or (e) if it is not reasonably practicable to appoint a person referred to in the sub-paragraph which immediately precedes it.

Election of staff members
     9. Subject to paragraphs 1, 10 and 11, the authority must make all the necessary arrangements for the election of staff members.

     10. The duty imposed by paragraph 9—

     11. Any election which is contested must be held by ballot.

Appointment of sponsor members
     12. In this Schedule, "sponsor" in relation to a unit means—

     13. Where the unit has one or more sponsors, the instrument of government may provide for the appointment of such number of sponsor members, not exceeding two, nominated in accordance with paragraph 14.

     14. Nominations must be sought for such appointments from the sponsor or (as the case may be) from one or more of the sponsors.



SCHEDULE 2
Regulation 16


Qualifications and disqualifications


General
     1. —(1) A person is disqualified from holding or from continuing to hold office as a member at any time when he is a registered pupil at a unit.

    (2) No person is qualified to be a member unless he is aged 18 or over at the date of his election or appointment.

     2. Except as otherwise provided in these Regulations, the fact that a person is qualified to be elected or appointed as a member of a particular category does not disqualify him from election or appointment or from continuing as a member of any other category.

Mental disorder
     3. A person is disqualified from holding or from continuing to hold office as a member at any time when he is detained under the Mental Health Act 1983[
6].

Failure to attend meetings
     4. —(1) This paragraph applies to any member who is not a member of the committee by virtue of his office.

    (2) A member who, without the consent of the committee, has failed to attend their meetings for a continuous period of six months beginning with the date of the first such meeting he failed to attend, is, on the expiry of that period, disqualified from continuing to hold office as a member of that committee.

Bankruptcy
     5. A person is disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a member, if—

Disqualification of company directors
     6. A person is disqualified from holding, or from continuing to hold, office as a member at any time when he is subject to—

Disqualification of charity trustees
     7. A person is disqualified from holding or from continuing to hold office as a member if—

Persons whose employment is prohibited or restricted
     8. A person is disqualified from holding or from continuing to hold office as a member at any time when he is—

Criminal convictions
     9. —(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (6) below, a person is disqualified from holding, or continuing to hold, office as a member where any of sub-paragraphs (2) to (4) or (6) below apply to him.

    (2) This sub-paragraph applies to a person if—

he has been convicted, of any offence and has had passed on him a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of not less than three months without the option of a fine.

    (3) This sub-paragraph applies to a person if within the period of 20 years ending with the date immediately preceding the date on which his appointment or election as member would otherwise have taken effect or, as the case may be, on which he would otherwise have become a member by virtue of his office, he has been convicted of any offence and has had passed on him a sentence of imprisonment for a period of not less than two and a half years.

    (4) This sub-paragraph applies to a person if he has at any time been convicted of any offence and he has had passed on him a sentence of imprisonment for a period of not less than five years.

    (5) For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (2) to (4) above, references to a conviction are references to a conviction whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere but any conviction by or before a court outside the United Kingdom of an offence which, if the facts giving rise to the offence had taken place in any part of the United Kingdom, would not have constituted an offence under the law in force in that part of the United Kingdom must be disregarded.

    (6) This sub-paragraph applies to a person if—

he has been convicted under section 547 of the Education Act 1996[17] or under section 85A of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992[18] (nuisance and disturbance on educational premises) of an offence and has been sentenced to a fine.

Refusal to make an application for a criminal records certificate
     10. A person is disqualified from holding or continuing to hold office as a member at any time when he refuses a request by the clerk to the committee to make an application under section 113A of the Police Act 1997[19] for a criminal records certificate.

Notification to clerk
     11. Where, by virtue of any paragraphs 5 to 9—

he must give notice of that fact to the clerk to the committee.



SCHEDULE 3
Regulation 21


Application, with modifications, of the School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations 2003


     1. Wherever they appear—

Introduction
     2. In regulation 3(2)—

Meetings, proceedings and sub-committees
     3. In regulation 5(1) and (6), omit "and to section 67 of the 2006 Act".

     4. In regulation 5(5)(c), omit "or replaced by a chair nominated by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 67 of the 2006 Act".

In regulation 7(1), omit "unless he has been nominated by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 67 of the 2006 Act".

     5. In regulation 8—

     6. In regulation 9 for sub-paragraph (e)(i) substitute—

     7. In regulation 10 for sub-paragraph (1)(b) substitute—

     8. In regulation 11—

     9. In regulation 12 omit paragraph (4).

     10. In regulation 15—

     11. In regulation 16(1)—

     12. Omit regulation 17(1), (3) and (4).

     13. In regulation 18, for sub-paragraph (1)(b) substitute—

     14. In regulation 21—

     15. Omit regulation 22.

     16. In regulation 23 for sub-paragraph (1)(b) substitute—



EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)


These Regulations, which come into force on 13th November 2007, require local education authorities (LEAs) to establish management committees to run pupil referral units (PRUs) in their area, and make provision for the constitution and procedures of such committees.

Part 2 requires LEAs to establish a committee in relation to each PRU in their area, with the proviso that a committee may run more than one PRU. In relation to PRUs opened before 13th November 2007, a committee must be established by 1st February 2008. In relation to PRUs opened on or after 13th November 2007, a committee must be established (or arrangements must be made for an existing committee to take on the management of the PRU) by no later than the first day it is open to pupils (Regulations 3 and 4). The LEA must make an instrument of government in respect of each unit (or group of units) and appoint the first members (other than those who are required to be elected) (Regulation 5).

Part 3 prescribes the categories of members. Part 4 prescribes the composition of committees. Part 5 prescribes the qualifications and tenure of office of members.

Part 6 makes provision for the procedures of committees by applying the School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations 2003 to committees, with certain modifications (Regulation 21 and Schedule 3).

Regulations 22 and 23 in Part 7, which come into force on 1st February 2008, require LEAs to delegate certain functions, principally the function of conducting the unit, to the committee and require a written statement of policy in relation to the curriculum for the unit to be made and periodically reviewed.


Notes:

[1] 1996 c. 56; paragraph 15 of Schedule 1 is inserted by section 48 of the Education Act 1997 (c.44), and amended by paragraph 184(c) of Schedule 30 to the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (c.31), and by S.I. 2001/2237. See section 579(1) of the Education Act 1996 for the definitions of "prescribed" and "regulations".back

[2] S.I. 2003/1377, as amended by S.I. 2003/1916, 2004/450 and 2007/959, which apply in relation to units by virtue of regulation 21 of, and Schedule 3 to, these Regulations.back

[3] 2006 c. 40.back

[4] 1998 c. 31.back

[5] 2002 c. 32.back

[6] 1983 c. 20.back

[7] By virtue of paragraph 8 of Schedule 4A to the Insolvency Act 1986 (c.45), reference to a person who is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order includes reference to a person in respect of whom a bankruptcy restrictions undertaking has effect.back

[8] 1986 c. 46; as amended by the Insolvency Act 2000 (c. 39).back

[9] S.I. 1989/2404 (N.I. 18). This has been prospectively repealed by the Companies Act 2006.back

[10] S.I. 2002/3150 (N.I. 4).back

[11] 2005 asp10.back

[12] 1999 c. 14; as amended by the Care Standards Act 2000 (c. 14).back

[13] 2002 c. 32.back

[14] 2000 c. 43. Section 29A is inserted by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c.44).back

[15] 1989 c. 41. Part 10A is inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 and amended by the Childcare Act 2006 (c.21).back

[16] 2006 c. 21.back

[17] As amended by the School Standards and Framework Act and by section 206 and Schedule 20 of the Education Act 2002.back

[18] 1992 c. 13; inserted by section 206 and Schedule 20 of the Education Act 2002.back

[19] 1997 c. 50; as amended by the Protection of Children Act 1999, the Care Standards Act 2000 and the Education Act 2002. Section 113A was inserted by section 163(2) of the Serious Organised Crime Act 2005 (c. 15) and amended by paragraph 14 of Part 2 of Schedule 9 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (c. 47).back



ISBN 978 0 11 078866 1


 © Crown copyright 2007

Prepared 23 October 2007


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