Explanatory note

These Regulations make three categories of provision. First, they revoke and, with modifications, replace the provisions of the Education (Grant) Regulations 1983. They also revoke a number of other Regulations made under section 100(1)(b) of the Education Act 1944, being Regulations which are spent or which authorise grants to be paid to a specified body (regulation 5 and the Schedule).

The Regulations authorise the Secretary of State to pay grants to persons other than local education authorities in respect of expenditure approved by him being expenditure for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision of–

• education in special schools (regulation 6);

• education in further or higher education institutions (other than those specified in regulation 7(3)) (regulations 7 and 8);

• educational services provided by national education associations (regulation 11); or

• vocational, social, physical and recreational training provided otherwise than in educational institutions (regulation 12); or

in providing tuition for adult education courses (regulation 10) or courses for the training of youth leaders and community centre wardens (regulation 13).

Regulation 9 authorises the Secretary of State to make loans to the governing body of Trinity College, Carmarthen, in respect of amounts of capital expenditure which cannot be grant-aided under the Regulations.

Regulation 15 authorises the Secretary of State to pay grants to persons other than local education authorities in respect of expenditure approved by him which is, or is to be, incurred (a) for the purposes of educational research, or (b) for the purposes of, or in connection with,

• the provision (or proposed provision) by the grant recipient or another person of educational services of an administrative, advisory, informatory, organising or training character, or

• the provision (or proposed provision) by a person other than the grant recipient of education in any school or further or higher education institution.

Secondly, the Regulations authorise the Secretary of State to pay grants to the bodies promoting learning or research specified in regulation 14(2).

Thirdly, they authorise the Secretary of State to pay grants to persons other than local education authorities in respect of payments to teachers and the other categories of persons employed in, or in connection with, education specified in regulation 16(2) for the purpose of facilitating their training overseas.

The Secretary of State may specify conditions to be satisfied before a grant is paid (regulation 17). The Secretary of State may also specify requirements to be complied with by recipients of a grant. These may include requirements to repay grant or to pay to the Secretary of State sums representing the value of property acquired or improved with grant and to pay interest on overdue sums (regulation 18(1)).

The Regulations require recipients of grant to keep such records and accounts and to furnish such information, documents, returns and accounts to the Secretary of State as he may require, to open their records and accounts to inspection by the Comptroller and Auditor General, to repay on application by the Secretary of State all or part of grant paid in respect of expenditure to be incurred where the expenditure is not, or not wholly, incurred, not to dispose of assets acquired with the aid of grant except with the Secretary of State’s written consent, to pay on application by the Secretary of State, where such assets are disposed of, their value or a lesser sum specified by the Secretary of State and to open to inspection any grant-aided educational institution or any premises or thing used for the purposes of grant-aided educational services or research (regulation 18(2)).

Regulation 19 provides for the Secretary of State, in the case of further or higher education institutions in respect of which grant is payable under the Regulations, to make transitional exemption orders for the purposes of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.