Lichfield Diocesan Board of Education. Policy on Governance

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1 Lichfield Diocesan Board of Education Policy on Governance It is the governance of a Church of England school (or academy), and in particular the role of the governors appointed to represent the Church, that secure the distinctive Christian character of the school and its link to the school s Anglican foundation and trust deed. Governance has become a much more complex issue since the advent of academies. In a stand-alone academy trust, the governors are the company directors of the academy trust. In a Multi Academy Trust (MAT), now the normative model for academy organizations, there are normally both company directors, who have executive authority for managing the trust, and a local governing body which has delegated functions from the trust board. Whether a single or multi academy trust arrangement pertains, at both trust board level and (in a MAT) at local governing body level, the Church should be represented in line with the governance arrangements for the previous Voluntary Aided (church majority governance) or Voluntary Controlled (church minority governance) category of the school. In maintained schools, the Foundation Governors are representatives of the Church of England, and they are normally appointed by the Diocesan Board of Education or the Parochial Church Council, as set out in the school s Instrument of Government. In an academy trust, it is the Members (owners) of the Trust who appoint the Directors (Governors), so the Church Member (normally CECET or in some early conversions LDBE) will appoint an appropriate number of Foundation Directors (Governors) to the trust board in line with the predecessor category (VA/VC) of the converting school. Where a MAT has a local governing body, we expect the Scheme of Delegation to state that Local Foundation Governors will be nominated by CECET or LDBE. A more complete statement of policy and expectations is set out in Section 2 on academies below. It should be noted that it is the legal responsibility of the whole Governing Body or Board of Directors (not just the Church-appointed governors/directors) to ensure that a Church of England school/academy is conducted according to its trust deed and constitutional documents. The Church dimension must not be regarded as a bolt-on to school life, but as fundamental to its purposes. Safeguarding the Church character must not be decanted to the role of the Church appointed governors/directors, but must be regarded as a primary commitment of all those who have legal and constitutional responsibility for the conduct of a Church of England school or academy. The general principles that are set out in Section 1 (Maintained Schools) also apply in relation to academies, although the procedural arrangements for the latter may be 1

2 different. The overriding principle is that Church appointed governors in any school should have an appropriate range of skills to support the distinctive Christian character of the school, and should take their accountability to the Church seriously. Section 1: Maintained Schools Introduction: the Role of the Foundation Governor 1. Foundation Governors are the guardians of the Church of England foundation and distinctive Christian character of a Church school. The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 state that foundation governors are appointed for the purpose of securing that that character is preserved and developed. It is the responsibility of Foundation Governors, working with the whole Governing Body, to ensure that the school is conducted in accordance with the terms of the school s Trust Deed and the Ethos Statement as set out in the Instrument of Government. 2. The LDBE Policy on Federations sets out the expectations of church governance in such collaborations. 1 Qualification to be a Foundation Governor 3. Foundation Governors are normally appointed by the Diocesan Board of Education and/or Parochial Church Council (and sometimes by a separate trust or person). The Board s normal expectation is that Foundation Governors should be communicant members of the Church of England and faithful and regular worshippers at the local church. The Board may appoint other practising Christians on the basis of a recommendation from the Incumbent and/or Archdeacon. The Board will not, however, appoint members of other faith communities to the office of Foundation Governor because of the legal requirements attached to this office. 4. The Board accepts that at some small schools (and sometimes at some large schools, depending on the context), it is not always possible to appoint faithful and regular worshippers as Foundation Governors. In such circumstances, the DBE accepts that Foundation Governors can be appointed who, whilst not being regular worshippers, have an adherence to the Christian faith and a broad allegiance to the Church of England s role in education, and are therefore able and willing to preserve and develop the religious character of the school. The Diocesan Director of Education should be consulted prior to any such appointments being proposed. All appointments are subject to ratification by the Diocesan Board of Education. 5. The Board wishes to discourage the practice of appointing members of staff as Foundation Governors. This adds a layer of complexity to the governance 1 The School Governance (Federations) (England) Regulations 2012 apply. 2

3 arrangements and can sometimes cause difficulties (e.g. where disciplinary action has to be taken against a member of staff or there is a potential redundancy). Pre-appointment Checks 6. All prospective Foundation Governors (whether appointed by the DBE or PCC or another trust/person) will be required to sign the Declaration attached at Annex A in advance of their appointment. Procedure for appointing Foundation Governors 7. The Diocesan Board of Education normally consults the Ex Officio and/or Foundation Governors when making appointments to DBE Foundation Governorships, and acts upon their recommendation. However, schools adopt a variety of practices for determining who should be recommended. This might simply be upon the recommendation of the Incumbent and/or PCC, or it might be following an election. The DBE s expectation is that the Chair of Governors and Headteacher (and preferably the whole Governing Body) are always consulted about the appointment of Foundation Governors, and that such appointments should enhance the quality of the Governing Body s leadership and ensure that the Governing Body has an appropriate range of skills and expertise. 8. It is the responsibility of the Governing Body to ensure that it is properly constituted in line with the Instrument of Government, and that the appropriate numbers of governors are appointed within each category of governor. If it proves impossible to recruit a particular category of Foundation Governor (e.g. parents of registered pupils), then the next best match should be considered, subject to consultation with the Diocesan Director of Education. 9. Governing Bodies are asked to keep the Diocesan Board of Education informed of any changes to Foundation Governors, so that the Board s records can be kept up to date. 10. The normal procedure for appointing DBE Foundation Governors is as follows:- a) Where a vacancy occurs or a DBE Foundation Governor s term of office expires, the Administrative Assistant will normally consult the Ex Officio Foundation Governor and seek a nomination. b) The Ex Officio Foundation Governor should undertake appropriate local consultation (with the PCC, Chair of Governors and Headteacher (and full Governing Body, if time permits), and undertake any appropriate selection process, before proposing a name to the DBE. c) The proposed Foundation Governor should sign the Declaration and return this to the Administrative Assistant. d) The Board will appoint the Foundation Governor. In view of time constraints and the need to make appointments swiftly, this is normally done 3

4 provisionally by the Diocesan Director of Education, subject to formal ratification by the Diocesan Board of Education. 11. The procedure for appointing a PCC Foundation Governor should be similar to that for appointing a DBE Foundation Governor. The Ex Officio Foundation Governor should inform the Board of any vacancy/expiry of office, conduct an appropriate local consultation and selection process, and then inform the Board of the appointment. It will be necessary for a prospective PCC Foundation Governor to sign the Declaration, and this should be returned to the Administrative Assistant along with details of the person appointed. 12. The normal period of office of a governor is four years. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks 13. The Board s policy is that it normally expects all Foundation Governors to undergo a (DBS) Disclosure. Where a Foundation Governor has regular unsupervised access to children this should be an Enhanced DBS Disclosure. It is the responsibility of the school to ensure that appropriate checks have taken place in respect of all Foundation Governors. Where a Foundation Governor refuses to undertake an appropriate DBS check, the Board will recommend the removal of that Governor. Governing Bodies should comply with the requirements of the DBS in respect of their due diligence in safeguarding children. Suspension and/or Removal of a Foundation Governor 14. Governors are public office holders, and the Board will not normally consider the suspension and/or removal of a DBE Foundation Governor, unless there is a serious cause for concern. Such concern might pertain to that person s arrest or conviction for an alleged criminal offence, or to an investigation into that person s personal and/or professional conduct as a Governor. Where a Foundation Governor faces allegations relating to an offence against children, the Board will suspend that person from office pending the outcome of the investigation into the case. 15. Where any priest or deacon has been suspended by the Bishop under the provisions of the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003, then that person is also suspended from any right or duty of or incidental to his office (section 36.(1) of the Measure), including the office of Ex Officio Foundation Governor. 16. Sometimes, the Board receives representations about the competence of a Foundation Governor or about an issue that raises a question about that Governor s integrity or morality. In such circumstances, the Board may undertake an investigation and may seek advice from the National Society, DfE or Ofsted. However, the Board considers that it is normally a matter for the Governing Body to determine whether that person has a case to answer in respect of his/her conduct as a Governor. The School Governance (Roles, Procedures and 4

5 Allowances) (England) Regulations 2013 contain a provision allowing a Governing Body to suspend a Governor if that governor has acted in a way that is inconsistent with the ethos or with the religious character of the school and has brought or is likely to bring the school or the governing body or his office into disrepute (17(1)c). The Board will provide appropriate advice to Governing Bodies in this regard. 17. The Board will only remove a DBE Foundation Governor by a majority decision of a quorate meeting of the Diocesan Board of Education. Section 2: Church of England Academies 18. The principles set out in Section 1 on Maintained Schools broadly apply in relation to Church of England academies. 19. Governance arrangements for academies are set out in the Articles of Association of the academy trust and (where a MAT has determined that local governing bodies or advisory councils shall apply) in the Scheme of Delegation. 20. Academies convert on the so-called As-Is principle, so that a VA school converting to academy status should have majority church governance, whilst a VC school should have minority church governance (i.e. up to 25% of the whole governing board). 21. CECET will normally be a corporate church Member of an academy trust that includes a Church of England school or schools. The Members are the owners (or quasi-shareholders ) of the academy trust, and will appoint the Directors, who are sometimes (confusingly from the church perspective) called the Trustees 2. The nomenclature is often confusing: the Directors/Trustees are also the Governors of the school(s), and these terms are often used interchangeably. 22. The Articles of Association may state that the Members shall appoint the Directors/Trustees (in which case we expect CECET to appoint the Church Director(s)) using the As-Is principle). Alternatively, the Articles may state more explicitly who the appointing body shall be for a particular number of Directors/Trustees. 23. In a Church of England academy, the appointing body will normally be CECET (although this may sometimes be Lichfield DBE). The respective Articles of Association and the Diocesan Board of Education should be consulted about the appropriate arrangements. 2 The church trustees are normally either the Diocesan Board of Education or the Vicar and Church Wardens of the parish. Occasionally a separate trust is the trustee. The DBE normally has a record of the trusteeship of a Church of England school. 5

6 24. Those holding office in a Church of England academy trust, as either Directors/Trustees or as part of a local governing body will normally be appointed by the CECET Board. It is an expectation that CECET will be provided with appropriate information (a short pen-portrait will suffice) about the background, interests and skills of those being nominated for office. Enhanced DBS Checks will be required. 25. Those who are appointed by CECET to directorships of academy trusts must have appropriate skills to discharge this function effectively, and they must be committed to promoting the distinctive Christian character of the school(s). The DBE s expectation is that such appointed directors shall normally be practising members of the Church of England. Where it is not possible to source such individuals, others will be considered for appointment, providing they demonstrate a commitment to promoting the distinctive Church character of the school. It is a requirement of appointment that such persons maintain a close liaison and co-ordination with CECET, since they are CECET s representatives (and ambassadors) within the academy trust. 26. Where a MAT delegates functions to a local governing body (or advisory council), the Scheme of Delegation should set out the number of local governors within each category (parents/staff/foundation etc.), and who the nominating body should be. Whilst the MAT Board has executive authority to make appointments to local governing bodies, it is an expectation that CECET will be the nominating body for the local foundation governors. Normally, the incumbent should be a local foundation governor. 27. Local governing bodies (or advisory councils) are subcommittees of the MAT Board, and are required to operate within the terms of reference set out in the Scheme of Delegation. The term of office for local governors will normally be four years. 28. Those holding office in Church of England academies, as directors/trustees or as local governors will be asked to sign the Diocesan Consent Form as a demonstration of their commitment to promoting the distinctive Christian character of the school. 29. Note: The DBE has established two MATs (St Chad s Academies Trust and the Wulfrun Academies Trust) for sponsored academies and schools that wish to align themselves closely to the Diocese following conversion to academy status. A third diocesan MAT may be established in due course. In these MATs, the MAT Board has established local governing bodies as subcommittees of the respective trusts, and the arrangements for appointing local governors are set out in the Scheme of Delegation. The respective MAT Board is the appointing body for local governors. 30. In all cases in an academy scenario, the DBE expects the local church to be fully consulted about the nomination/appointment of Church representatives to academy trusts and local governing bodies. The arrangements for consultation as set out in 6

7 Section 1 above broadly apply to Church of England academies (subject to the requirement that MAT Boards are technically the appointing bodies of those holding office at local governing body level). Review of this Policy 31. This policy will be reviewed on a regular basis. [Adopted by Lichfield Diocesan Board of Education on] 7