Education Act 1921
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1921 c. 51 |
Education Act, 1921
(11 & 12 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 51.
An Act to consolidate the enactments relating to Education and certain enactments relating to the Employment of Children and Young Persons.
[19th August 1921]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I.
Central and Local Education Authorities.
Central Authority.
1 Central authority.
1. The Board of Education shall continue to be the Department of Government charged with the superintendence of matters relating to education in England and Wales.
2 Consultative committee.
(1) There shall continue to be a consultative committee for advising the Board of Education on any matters referred to the committee by the Board constituted in accordance with the Order in Council, dated the twenty-second day of July nineteen hundred and twenty, made under section four of the Board of Education Act, 1899 .
(2) His Majesty in Council may by order alter the constitution of the consultative committee, so, however, that it shall always consist as to not less than two-thirds of the members thereof of persons qualified to represent the views of universities and other bodies interested in education; but where it is proposed to make any such order, a draft thereof shall be laid before each House of Parliament for not less than four weeks during which that House is sitting before it is submitted to His Majesty in Council.
Local Education Authority.
3 Local education authorities.
(1) For the purposes of elementary education—
(a ) the council of every county borough as respects their county borough;
(b ) the council of a borough with a population of over ten thousand according to the census of nineteen hundred and one as respects their borough;
(c ) the council of an urban district with a population of over twenty thousand according to that census as respects their district; and
(d ) the council of every county as respects their county (excluding the area of any such borough or urban district);
shall be the local education authority.
(2) For the purposes of higher education—
(a ) the council of a county as respects their county; and
(b ) the council of a county borough as respects their borough;
shall be the local education authority, but the councils of non-county boroughs and urban districts, though not local education authorities for higher education, shall have the powers as respects higher education given under this Act.
(3) If any question arises whether any purpose for which a council wish to exercise any powers under this Act is a purpose of the provisions of this Act relating to elementary education or of those relating to higher education, that question shall be referred to and determined by the Board of Education, and their decision shall be conclusive on the matter.
(4) Where before the commencement of this Act the council of a non-county borough or urban district have, in pursuance of section twenty of the Education Act, 1902 , relinquished any of their powers or duties, nothing in this section shall affect the effect of such relinquishment.
4 Education committees.
(1) Every council having powers under this Act shall have an education committee or education committees constituted in accordance with this Act:
Provided that a council having powers under this Act as respects higher education only, shall not be obliged to have an education committee if they determine that an education committee is unnecessary in their case.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of section seven of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Act, 1919—
(a ) all matters relating to the exercise by the council of their powers under this Act, or of any powers connected with education conferred by or under any other Act, scheme, or order on the council expressly as a local education authority or as a council having powers under this Act, except the power of raising a rate or borrowing money, shall stand referred to the education committee, and the council, before exercising any such powers, shall, unless in their opinion the matter is urgent, receive and consider the report of the education committee with respect to the matter in question;
(b ) the council may also delegate to the education committee, with or without any restrictions or conditions as they think fit, any such powers as aforesaid, except the power of raising a rate or borrowing money.
(3) The education committee of a council shall be constituted in accordance with a scheme made by the council, and approved by the Board of Education, and the provisions contained in the First Schedule to this Act shall apply with respect to the making and approval of any such scheme, and the meetings and proceedings of the education committee, and the qualification of members thereof.
(4) Any such scheme shall, when approved, have effect as if enacted in this Act, and any such scheme may be revoked or altered by a scheme made in like manner, and having the same effect as an original scheme.
(5) An education committee may, subject to any directions of the council, appoint such and so many sub-committees consisting either wholly or partly of members of the committee, as the committee thinks fit.
5 Power of council of non-county borough or urban district to relinquish powers and duties under Act.
(1) The council of a non-county borough or urban district having any powers or duties under this Act may, at any time, by agreement with the council of the county, and with the approval of the Board of Education, relinquish in favour of the council of the county any of their powers and duties under this Act, and in that case the powers and duties of the authority so relinquished shall cease, and the area of the authority, if the powers and duties relinquished include powers as to elementary education, shall, as respects those powers, be part of the area of the county council.
(2) The provisions set out in the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect for the purpose of carrying out any relinquishment of powers or duties in pursuance of this section.
6 Provisions as to co-operation and combination.
(1) For the purpose of performing any duty or exercising any power under this Act, a council having powers under this Act may enter into such arrangements as they think proper for co-operation or combination with any other council or councils having such powers, and any such arrangement may provide for the appointment of a joint committee or a joint body of managers, for the delegation to that committee or body of managers of any powers or duties of the councils (other than the power of raising a rate or borrowing money), for the proportion of contributions to be paid by each council, and for any other matters which appear necessary for carrying out the arrangement.
(2) The Board of Education may, on the application of two or more councils having powers under this Act, by scheme provide for the establishment and (if thought fit) the incorporation of a federation for such purposes of any such arrangements as aforesaid as may be specified in the scheme as being purposes relating to matters of common interest concerning education which it is necessary or convenient to consider in relation to areas larger than those of individual education authorities, and the powers conferred on councils by this section shall include power to arrange for the performance of any educational or administrative functions by such a federation as if it were a joint committee or a joint body of managers:
Provided that no council shall without their consent be included in a scheme establishing a federation, and no council shall be obliged to continue in a federation except in accordance with the provisions of a scheme to which they have consented.
(3) A scheme made by the Board of Education constituting a federation, and an arrangement establishing a joint committee or a joint body of managers, shall provide for the appointment of at least two-thirds of the members by councils having powers under this Act, and may provide either directly or by co-optation for the inclusion of teachers or other persons of experience in education and of representatives of universities or other bodies.
(4) A scheme constituting a federation may on the application of one or more of the councils concerned be modified or repealed by a further scheme, and, where a scheme provides for the discontinuance of a federation, provision may be made for dealing with any property or liabilities of the federation.
7 Arrangements between councils.
7 An authority having powers under this Act may make arrangements with the council of any county, borough (including a metropolitan borough), district, or parish, whether a local education authority or not, for the exercise by the council, on such terms and subject to such conditions as may be agreed on, of any powers of the authority in respect of the management of any school or college within the area of the council.
8 Co-operation between authorities for elementary and higher education with respect to matters of common interest.
8. It shall be the duty of the local education authority for elementary education so to...
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