STATUTE LAW REVISION: SIXTEENTH ... - Law Commission

PART III
EDUCATION
16 Group 1 - Public Schools
17 Public Schools Acts 1868 to 1873
3.1 The purpose of the Public Schools Act 1868 was to re-organise the
administration of seven public schools. 1 The Public Schools Acts 1868 and 1871
and the Public Schools (Shrewsbury and Harrow Schools Property) Act 1873
amended the 1868 Act. Together the Acts gave new powers to the governing
bodies of each school to make statutes and regulations concerning the general
running of the schools. There are no present proposals to repeal the 1868 Act.
However the three amending Acts contain provisions that are either obsolete or
else overlap with provisions in the 1868 Act. 2 All three amending Acts are
recommended for repeal. The provisions in Schedule 2 to the draft Bill amending
the 1868 Act are consequential upon these repeals. All seven schools have
been consulted about the proposals as has the Department for Education and
Employment. No objections have been made.
18 Group 2 - Universities
19 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Acts 1877 and 1923
3.1 The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1877 results from a Royal
Commission of inquiry into the financial affairs of the Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge which was appointed in 1872 and reported in 1874. Under the Act
two executive commissions were appointed, one each for Oxford and
Cambridge, to put the financial affairs of the two Universities in order. By section
7 the powers of the Commissioners were to expire no later than the end of 1881.
The main purposes of the Act were given effect to a century ago and much of it
has already been repealed as being spent. The repeals proposed now, sections
52 to 55, relate to University statutes which are obsolete by virtue of having been
superseded by more modern provisions. 3
3.2 The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1923 also results from a Royal
Commission of inquiry into the financial affairs of the two Universities. 4
Commissioners were appointed to examine the financial affairs of the
Universities. In particular their appointment was directed to the question of
whether State Funding of the Universities would be appropriate. The powers of
the Commissioners were set out in the 1923 Act. These powers have long since
1 Eton, Winchester, Westminster, Charterhouse, Harrow, Rugby and Shrewsbury.
2 For example, the Public Schools Act 1869 provides for each of the schools to be a body
corporate, a provision already covered in the case of Westminster in the 1868 Act (section
5).
3 For example, the power in section 52 for the Chancellor of Cambridge University to settle
doubts as to the meaning of University Statutes has been superseded by the current
Cambridge Statutes (Statute K.2.)
4
Report of Royal Commission on Oxford and Cambridge Universities (Cmd 1588). The
Report was published in 1922.
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