Education Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for responding to my letter about these amendments and for the Keeling schedule which helps us to understand the impact of these further amendments. I welcome the moves that he has made and those new measures that he has just described. However, I would welcome clarification on two points before we get to Third Reading. In his letter to me in relation to my query about possibly seeing the draft regulations relating to these measures, the Minister says he believes that the admissions code should be the prime document and that regulations merely reflect the code rather than being a separate source of guidance. But the measures, even as amended in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, provide for regulations which may make provision, "““as to any conditions which must be satisfied before … an objection can be referred to the adjudicator under subsection (2) or … the adjudicator is required to determine an objection referred to him””." I understand that to mean that, in addition to the admissions code, which will not go into such matters, any regulations coming forward can stipulate conditions that parents or, as the Minister said, any person or body—including the local authority— must meet before making an objection to a school’s admissions procedure. As we have not seen the draft regulations, we have no idea of the conditions that the Government may be thinking of imposing. They could create additional hurdles for people to overcome before they can avail themselves of the opportunities to object to admission authorities’ policy and practices that the government amendments have created for them. Perhaps the Minister could clarify that my understanding is correct and, if so, what conditions the Government may be thinking of including in regulations. It is important that we have an idea of those before this matter is decided. Notwithstanding the amendments that the Minister has described, and in the light of our previous discussion about whether the Secretary of State should have a duty to promote fair access, can he also clarify that if, after an adjudicator receives an objection he decides that a school or admission authority is in breach of the admissions code, he can then only recommend what the school should do to come into compliance with the code? The power to direct a school or academy to change its policies and practices has been removed. The amendments that the Minister is talking about today do not restore that power to direct. The school will no longer be under a duty to implement whatever the adjudicator recommends or to change its admissions policies and practices if the adjudicator judges that it is in breach of the code. If a school—let us say that it is an academy, because we are talking about schools which are their own admissions authorities—decides that the adjudicator is simply wrong and has misinterpreted its policies and practices, who then will enforce the change necessary for the academy to comply with the admissions code? In the array of measures that the Minister has put in the Bill and talked about today, it is still the case as far as we can see that that is the end of the road, no matter what the adjudicator says. If a school digs its heels in, there is no way in which the views of the adjudicator can be enforced. I would be grateful if the Minister could clarify whether, on both of those issues, my understanding is right and respond to the questions that I have asked him.