Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
1997 No. 1772 (N.I. 15)
NORTHERN IRELAND
The Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997
Made 22th July 1997
Coming into operation in accordance with Article 1(2) and (3)
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 22nd day of July 1997
Present,
The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Whereas a draft of this Order has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament:
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the1Northern Ireland Act 1974 and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—
Introductory
Title and commencement
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), this Order shall come into operation on such day as the Department may by order appoint.
(3) This Article, Articles 2, 10 and 24 and Schedule 2 shall come into operation on the expiration of 2 months from the day on which this Order is made.
(4) An order under paragraph (2) may contain such transitional provisions as the Department thinks necessary or expedient.
Interpretation
2.—(1) The 2Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) In this Order—
“facilities” includes land, goods and services;
“further education” has the meaning assigned by Article 3;
“higher education” means education provided by means of a course of any description mentioned in Schedule 1;
“institution of further education” means, subject to paragraph (3), an institution which is recognised as such by the Department under Article 8;
“liability” includes obligation;
“the transfer date” means the day appointed by the Department under Article 1(2);
“the 1986 Order” means the3Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986;
“the 1989 Order” means the4Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989.
(3) n relation to any time before the transfer date, references in this Order to an institution of further education are to an institution of further education managed by a board under Part VII of the 1989 Order.
(4) The Department may by order amend Schedule 1.
(5) Subject to paragraph (6), for the purposes of this Order a person has a “learning difficulty” if—
(a)
(a) he has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of persons of his age; or
(b)
(b) he has a disability which either prevents or hinders him from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided by institutions of further education for persons of his age.
(6) A person is not to be taken as having a learning difficulty solely because the language (or form of the language) in which he is, or will be, taught is different from a language (or form of a language) which has at any time been spoken in his home.
(7) Any direction, consent or determination given by the Department under this Order shall be in writing.
(8) References in this Order to the board for the area in which an institution or establishment is (or is to be) situated shall, in a case where parts of an institution or establishment are (or are to be) situated in the areas of two or more boards, be read as references to both or all of those boards.
(9) This Order shall be construed as one with the 1986 Order and accordingly Article 2(2) of the 1986 Order, in so far as it relates to the definition of words or expressions used in that Order and in this Order, shall apply for the purposes of this Order as it applies for the purposes of that Order.
Definition of “further education”
3.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Article, in this Order “further education” means—
(a)
(a) full-time and part-time education suitable to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age (including vocational training); and
(b)
(b) organized leisure-time occupation provided in connection with the provision of such education.
(2) In this Order “further education” does not include—
(a)
(a) higher education; or
(b)
(b) full-time education suitable to the requirements of senior pupils over compulsory school age where provided at a school.
(3) For the purposes of this Order—
(a)
(a) “organized leisure-time occupation” means leisure-time occupation, in such organized cultural, training and recreative activities as are suited to their requirements, for any persons over compulsory school age who are able and willing to profit by facilities provided for that purpose;
(b)
(b) “vocational training” includes continuing education for persons already in employment or already engaged in a vocation as well as education with a view to entry into any employment or vocation.
Duties and powers of the Department
Powers of Department in relation to further education
4.—(1) The Department shall have the power to do all that is necessary or expedient for the purposes of the exercise of its duty under Article 3 of the 1989 Order in so far as it relates to further education.
(2) In particular, the Department may—
(a)
(a) make grants, loans and other payments in accordance with Article 5—
(i) to the governing bodies of institutions of further education; or
(ii) to others for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision of further education;
(b)
(b) establish a new institution of further education in accordance with Article 6;
(c)
(c) amalgamate two or more institutions of further education to form a single new institution of further education in accordance with Article 7;
(d)
(d) recognise an educational establishment as an institution of q further education in accordance with Article 8;
(e)
(e) provide for the discontinuance of an institution of further education in accordance with Article 9.
(3) In discharging its functions under this Order, the Department shall have regard to the requirements of persons over compulsory school age who have learning difficulties.
Funding of further education
5.—(1) The Department may make grants, loans or other payments—
(a)
(a) to the governing body of an institution of further education in respect of any expenditure incurred or to be incurred by it in connection with its functions under this Order in relation to the institution; and
(b)
(b) to such other persons as appear to it to be appropriate in respect of the expenditure of such persons incurred or to be incurred for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision of further education.
(2) Grants, loans and other payments under this Article shall be of such amounts as the Department may determine.
(3) A grant, loan or other payment under this Article may be made subject to such conditions as the Department thinks appropriate and such conditions—
(a)
(a) may be imposed before, after or at the time the grant, loan or other payment is made; and
(b)
(b) may relate to any time, whether before or after such time.
(4) The terms and conditions on which the Department may make any grants, loans or other payments under this Article may, in particular, include conditions—
(a)
(a) enabling the Department to require the repayment, in whole or in part, of sums paid by it if any other condition subject to which the sums were paid is not complied with; and
(b)
(b) requiring the payment of interest in respect of any period during which a sum due to the Department in accordance with any other condition remains unpaid,
but shall not relate to the application by the person to whom the grants, loans or other payments are made of any sums derived otherwise than from the Department.
(5) A condition imposed under paragraph (3) shall not have effect as regards anything done, or omitted to have been done, before the date the condition was imposed.
Establishment of new institution of further education
6.—(1) The Department may establish a new institution of further education.
(2) Before establishing a new institution of further education under this Article the Department shall consult—
(a)
(a) the board for the area in which the institution is to be situated; and
(b)
(b) the governing bodies of such institutions of further education and such other persons as appear to the Department to be appropriate.
(3) Where the Department proposes to establish a new institution of further education, it shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, ensure—
(a)
(a) that an instrument of government and articles of government are made for the new institution; and
(b)
(b) that a governing body is established for the new institution under this Order.
Amalgamations of institutions of further education
7.—(1) The Department may direct that two or more institutions of further education shall be amalgamated to form a single new institution of further education (in this Article referred to as “the new institution”).
(2) Before giving any direction under this Article affecting any institutions of further education, the Department shall consult—
(a)
(a) the governing bodies of those institutions;
(b)
(b) the board for the area in which each such institution is situated; and
(c)
(c) the governing bodies of such institutions of further education and such other persons as appear to the Department to be appropriate.
(3) A direction under this Article providing for the amalgamation of two or more institutions of further education shall specify the date (referred to in this Article as “the implementation date”) on which the amalgamation is to take effect.
(4) Where the Department issues a direction under this Article, it shall be the duty of the governing bodies of the institutions of further education affected...
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