Commentary on Sections Local education authority Legal background Section 144: Protection of pupils in an emergency
167.Section 144 inserts a new section 342A into the 1996 Act and provides a power through subsection (1) for the Secretary of State to make regulations to enable a justice of the peace, following an application from the Secretary of State, to make an order for the withdrawal of approval of a non-maintained special school.
168.The Secretary of State would only be able to make an application in an urgent case, for example, if it appears that a pupil at the school in question is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm. Subsection (2) of the inserted section clarifies that regulations made under subsection (1) may in particular make provision similar to that made in sections 120 and 122 relating to independent educational institutions. This will ensure that a regulatory regime can be established which is consistent with that for independent educational institutions.