Commentary on provisions of Act Section 6: Interaction between intervention powers
Section 6 amends the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to provide for how the intervention powers of the Secretary of State and local authorities are to interact with one another.
	Section 6(2) amends section 64 (which is concerned with the appointment by local authorities of additional governors) by removing subsection (1A) which stops a local authority from appointing additional governors of a maintained school where, in specified circumstances, the Secretary of State has exercised the power to appoint additional governors under section 67. This limitation is no longer needed because of the changes made concerning the interaction of the powers of the Secretary of State and local authorities made by section 6(3).
	Section 6(3) inserts new sections 70A, 70B and 70C into the Education and Skills Act 2006.
	New section 70A requires local authorities to notify the Secretary of State before they exercise their powers to require a governing body of a maintained school to enter into arrangements (under section 63) , to appoint additional governors (under section 64) , or to suspend a governing body’s right to a delegated budget (under section 66). There is no need for a local authority to notify the Secretary of State before they exercise their power to intervene under section 65 (appointment to provide for governing body to consist of interim executive members) because the existing legislation already requires them to obtain the Secretary of State's consent before exercising the power under section 65. Section 70A also requires the Secretary of State to notify the local authority before exercising any of the powers to require a governing body to enter into arrangements, appoint additional governors, direct the closure of a school or provide for the governing body of a maintained school to consist of interim executive members.
	New section 70B restricts the use of a local authority’s intervention powers where the Secretary of State has notified the authority that the Secretary of State intends to exercise any of the powers of intervention to require a governing body to enter into arrangements, appoint additional governors, direct the closure of a school or provide for the governing body of a maintained school to consist of interim executive members. A local authority so notified must not exercise that same power in relation to the same school unless and until the Secretary of State notifies them that they may.
	New section 70C allows the Secretary of State to take over responsibility for arrangements in connection with interim executive members appointed by a local authority. Where the Secretary of State takes this responsibility, the local authority’s notice to the governing body of the maintained school that it is to consist of interim executive members is treated as having been given by the Secretary of State; and anything done by the local authority in exercise of its powers in relation to the interim executive board as set out in Schedule 6 to the Education and Skills Act 2006 is treated as if done by the Secretary of State.