15.Section 5 amends the Education Reform Act 1988 (the existing provision for “List 99”) by substituting a new list of grounds for prohibiting or restricting employment by the Secretary of State:
Subsections (1) and (2) insert a new subsection (6ZA) into section 218 of the 1988 Act which covers at (a), (b) and (e) all the present grounds for prohibiting or restricting employment and, for the first time, distinguishes at (c) “fit and proper” grounds and provides at (d) that the grounds should also include the individuals who are in the Department of Health list so that the list under the amended 1988 Act may be operated together with the Department of Health list for determining employment;
Subsection (3) is a consequential amendment to section 218 (6A) of the 1988 Act reflecting the various grounds there are to be for prohibiting or restricting employment;
Subsection (4) incorporates all the grounds as specified in subsection (6AZ) into section 15 of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 (which relates to the supply of information relating to the dismissal or resignation of teachers) so that common grounds apply to both the 1988 and the 1998 Acts.
16.Section 6 establishes a statutory appeal against decisions by the Secretary of State to prohibit or restrict employment, or refuse to revoke or vary such decisions, on medical grounds or on grounds of misconduct or that the individual is not a fit and proper person. It achieves this effect by extending the power to make regulations under subsection (6) of section 218 of the 1988 Act to allow appeals to the Tribunal mentioned at section 4 above.
Subsection (1) specifies what decisions may be appealed;
Subsection (2) provides that regulations may lay down the ambit of the Tribunal’s decisions and powers;
Subsection (3) repeats as appropriate for this context the effect of section 4(3) above.
Commentary on Sections Sections 5 and 6 – Department for Education and Employment List