"As for the existing 165 grammar schools, it would have been easy, particularly with a majority of 179, to put a Bill through Parliament which abolished grammar schools. We will not do that because we believe that the debate should be held locally. "It should be for local parents to determine whether they want to keep their grammar schools."
Mr Byers: "…We considered, quite separately, how we would deal with the remaining 165 grammar schools. We said that we would not abolish them through an Act of Parliament, but allow local people to determine what should happen.
"…We also said in the manifesto that the future of the remaining 165 grammar schools would be a matter for local determination by relevant parents."
This seems crystal clear to me – the 'relevant parents' and not the governors get the final say. The legal fragment that gives the parents supremacy is in sub-clause 109(3)(b) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
It states: "…In any prescribed circumstances following the making of a request for a ballot under section 105 (by the parents in the feeder primary schools), any such proposals under section 28 (by the governors to remove selective admission arrangements) shall be to no effect."

PAUL DODGSHUN
Barnwood, Gloucester