Guidance for the Reconstitution of Governing Bodies for Church Schools in the Diocese of Bath and Wells
Recent legislation requires all governing bodies of maintained schools to reconstitute under the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 or the School Governance (Federations) (England) Regulations 2012 by 1st September 2015. The Statutory Guidance on this, together with the links to all the relevant Regulations, can be found at: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/constitution-of-governing-bodies-ofmaintained-schools The legislation moves governing bodies away from the representative model and encourages them to become smaller and appoint / elect on a skills basis. Governing bodies therefore need to take stock of their size, structure and membership in relation to the skills needed to deliver their core functions and duties. Consideration also needs to be given to the most effective and suitable date for reconstitution, bearing in mind the terms of office of governors. If current foundation governors are going to continue as such after reconstitution, their term of office is unaffected and the dates will remain the same. If current governors are to change category after reconstitution, they will need to go through the formal appointment process so will receive new term of office dates. When a Voluntary Controlled school reconstitutes, its foundation governors should number at least two (including the ex-officio) but be no more than one quarter of the total number of governors. When a Voluntary Aided school reconstitutes, the governing body will have a majority of 2 foundation governors over all other categories of governor. (It is no longer required that a proportion of foundation governors be eligible for election or appointment as parent governors.)
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Important information regarding the appointing authority of foundation governors The Diocesan Board of Education is to be the appointing authority on all foundation governor appointments (apart from the ex-officio). This will take effect from as and when governing bodies reconstitute and will need to be reflected in the Instrument of Government. The reasons for this are summarised below:
It regularises all foundation governor appointments making them fairer and subject to equal scrutiny. It means that all foundation governor appointments go through a formal approval process. (This does not include the ex-officio, who is there by virtue of office.) It means that the DBE will be accountable for all foundation governor appointments should a problem occur. All appointments still come via a nomination from the PCC, which should be recorded in the PCC minutes.
Governor Services at the local authority are available to advise and assist in drawing up new draft Instruments of Government. Once the governing body has agreed corporately to the draft, recording this in the minutes of a full governing body meeting, the clerk or Governor Services sends it to the Diocese to check and approve. The School Organisation and Governance team in the Education Department at the Diocese check that it has the correct number of foundation governors and that the parish or benefice, incumbent and Trust Deed information is all correct. It is then forwarded to the Governance Committee of the Diocesan Board of Education for approval. Once approval has been given, it is sent back to the Local Authority for signing and sealing. If your governing body has any queries or requires any further information regarding reconstitution, please contact Natalie Paull, Diocesan School Organisation and Governance Officer on 01749 685120 or email
[email protected]
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