Education Bill — Leave out Clause 11 (Form or invest in companies) — 3 Jul 2002 at 17:01

The majority Content voters passed an amendment^[1] to the Education Bill. This removed Clause 11 from the Bill which allowed schools to form or invest in companies. As companies the schools would have been able to procure goods and services collectively and could provide services to other schools. The text of Clause 11 can be read here.

However, this vote was overturned in the House of Commons on 15th July 2002. Consequently, this clause became law on 24th July 2002 when the Bill received Royal Assent.

The main aims of the Education Bill were to^[2]:

• Allow schools to exempt themselves from laws which prevented them from innovating. However, this is dependent on the Secretary of State's approval.
• Give good schools the option of qualifying for greater flexibility in the National Curriculum and teachers' pay.
• Allow schools to join together in a federation under a single governing body.
• Further regulate school admissions, exclusions and attendance policies.
• Give the Secretary of State further powers to intervene in failing schools.
• Introduce a new regulatory regime for independent schools.

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• [1] Baroness Blatch, House of Lords, 3 July 2002
• [2] TeacherNet Summary, 17 September 2002

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |