Agenda item

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Enterprise, on the revised arrangements for the appointment process for Local Authority governors to school governing bodies.

The Board was advised that new regulations came into force on 1 September 2014, which required all maintained school governing bodies to be reconstituted under the School Governance (Constitution and Federations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations, by 1 September 2015. It was reported that local authority governors, foundation governors and parent governors were only eligible to be appointed if they had the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. In addition, new procedures for the removal of surplus governors had been introduced.

          It was noted that the Government was seeking to strengthen the role of governing bodies in setting the strategic direction for schools and academies and in promoting school improvement. The amended regulations required local authority governors to be nominated by the local authority, but appointed by the governing body. The report set out further details of constitution requirements for all maintained schools. In the case of Academy Trusts, it was noted that although there was no requirement for them to have a local authority governor on the Academy governing body, should they decide to appoint one, then the appointment would be made via the agreed procedure for appointment of local authority governors.

Reason(s) for Decision

The decision was required to ensure that there was a clear and transparent process in place regarding the appointment of local authority governors.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

One option considered and rejected was to remain with the present appointment process, i.e. Local Authority appointments being made by the political Party Groups, with Local Authority governor positions being broadly allocated to a Party on a proportion based on the political make-up of the Council, with the Group whips co-ordinating this process for their party.  However, Lord Nash had confirmed this was unacceptable practice and the law now required that all governors were appointed on the basis of the skills they had to contribute to effective governance, and Local Authorities must make every effort to understand the governing body’s requirements in order to identify and nominate suitable candidates. Once appointed, Local Authority governors must govern in the interests of pupils, not to represent or advocate for the political or other interests of the Local Authority.

Implementation Date

The process would commence from the approval of the policy.

RESOLVED: That

1)    the process and supporting documentation set out in the report regarding the nomination of Local Authority governors to Local Authority maintained schools and Academies, against criteria determined by a school’s governing body be approved; and

2)    a Members Panel consisting of the Portfolio holder – Children, Young People & Families, the Leader, and the Strategic Director or his nominee be established to put forward Local Authority nominations for schools to consider.  This panel will test that individuals meet the criteria for governors for specific schools and will meet termly, or additionally, as agreed by the Panel.