Each education authority must prepare and publish each year a statement (an “annual statement”) setting out for the relevant period the ways in which the authority will, in providing school education, encourage equal opportunities and in particular the observance of the equal opportunity requirements.

As soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each relevant period, each education authority must prepare and publish a report setting out any activities carried out by it in pursuance of its annual statement.

In this section—

• “ equal opportunities ” and “ equal opportunity requirements ” have the same meanings as in the exceptions to Section L2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998, and

• “ relevant period ”, in relation to an annual statement, means the period of 12 months beginning with the day after the day on which the annual statement is published.