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The status of the clerk to
the governing body
should be raised
The clerk should not work
in the school in a different
capacity to reduce the
potential for conflicts of
interest
Training for new
governors, chairs and
clerks should be
compulsory
Every school should have
a trained clerk
training and accreditation
for clerks should be
compulsory
their pay should be
commensurate with their
importance
The authors likened the
role of the clerk to “the
roles of Company
Secretary, one of high
status, requiring training
and accreditation, and
Clerk to the Justices”
We will encourage
schools to appoint
trained clerks who can
offer expert advice
and guidance to
support them
The role of the clerk to
the governors is pivotal to
ensuring that statutory
duties are met, meetings
are well organised and
governors receive the
information they need in
good time. Consequently,
governors come to
meetings well prepared
and with pertinent
questions ready so that
they are able to provide
constructive challenge.
The role of the clerk to
the governing body was
pivotal to the smooth
operation of the
governing body. As well as
fulfilling administrative
duties, clerks were a
source of guidance and
advice for the governing
body.
Skilful clerks in the
schools visited ensured
that governors’ time was
used efficiently and
effectively by:
regularly keeping
governors up to date
with any changes in
legislation or
requirements
circulating minutes
and papers for
meetings in good
time so that
governors were well
prepared for
discussions and
questions
acting as a source of
advice and support for
governors, particularly
new ones
providing a link between
the governing body and
the local authority
governor services
disseminating information
from other sources such
as the Department for
Education
ensuring that action
points from meetings
were recorded and
followed up
arranging visits and
meetings, and notifying
governors of relevant
school events
preparing a plan or
timeline of governor
activities throughout the
year and helping the chair
to ensure that this
schedule was reflected in
the agenda for meetings.
A clear job description for
the clerk supported their
effectiveness. It ensured that
the role, responsibilities and
lines of accountability were
understood. This was
particularly useful where the
clerk had another role in the
school, for example as the
headteacher’s personal
assistant.
Typically, clerks also received
regular training and
briefings from local
authority governor support
services.
Strong teamwork
between the headteacher,
the chair of the governing
body and the clerk was
crucial to efficient
working.
The leadership and
management skills of the
chair, with the support of
the clerk, enabled
meetings to run
efficiently, stay focused on
the agenda and allowed
all governors to
contribute.
The importance of the
role of clerk is recognised
by all key players
There is a gap between
the rhetoric and the
reality
Bridging the gap involves
professionalising – or reprofessionalising clerking
Clerks already behave and
work professionally but
clerking is not yet on a par
with the profession of
Company Secretary
Bridging the gap
Strengthening clerking
NCOGS 2010
No-one knows!
Although each
governing body must
appoint a clerk (and
there are about 24,000
schools), a clerk may
serve more than one
governing body
Clerks employed by a
local authority may
clerk several governing
bodies
There is no reliable
contemporary data
Currency
Accreditation programme Number of LAs
known to be using
this programme
Nationally recognised
qualification but not
specific to clerking role
NVQ Business and
2 (one not using
Administration Levels 2, 3 & level 2)
4
Nationally recognised
qualification specific to
clerking role
BTEC Level 3: National
12
Clerks’ Training Programme
(DCSF)
NB NO LONGER
AVAILABLE
BTEC Level 3: Professional 3
Development Advanced
Certificate in Support and
Administration of Governing
Bodies accredited by
Edexcel
ISCG – accredited model
9
269
£300-£500
6-24
71
£250-£450
18
241
£250-£1800
12-16
Individual LA programmes
70
Free-£1000
6-12
Qualification specific to
clerking role but not
recognised nationally
5
No of clerks Price range Duration
known to
(months)
be
accredited
46
Free-£800
12
Addressing Accountability
By giving the Clerk to the
Governing Body
responsibility for
enhanced public-facing
accountabilities governing
bodies will be confident
that they are being
accountable and being
seen to be so
Enhanced status
Enhancing the status of
clerks has the potential to
transform the way
governing bodies work
and maximise their impact
on school effectiveness.
Shifting important
responsibilities from the
volunteer group to a
professional postholder
will allow governing
bodies to focus on their
strategic and scrutiny
roles. The clerk will take
lead responsibility for
ensuring accountability
Career Clerk
The introduction of a
nationally recognized
qualification with set
standards, allied to those
required of Company
Secretaries would provide
clerks with high level
transferrable skills and a
career path
Ensuring Quality and
Consistency of Clerking for
Governing Bodies
The proposals would need to
be underpinned by clearly
defined national criteria and a
statutory requirement for
accreditation and training for
clerks to governing bodies.
Clerks could continue to be
appointed by governing bodies
through most of the existing
wide range of paths:
Self employed
Directly employed by the
governing body
Employed by LA clerking
services
Employed by clerking agencies
Enhanced
responsibilities
Increased powers
Ensure accountability
Lead communication
role
Ensure statutory
responsibilities are
met
Standing items for
agendas
Enhanced
responsibilities
Ensure accountability
Since the abolition of the
requirement for governing
bodies to publish an
annual report to parents
and hold an annual
meeting where the report
could be questioned, the
visible public
accountability of
governors to their
communities and the
taxpayer has largely
disappeared without
trace.
Enhanced
responsibilities
Ensure accountability
The clerk could become
the governing body’s lead
officer for ensuring
proper, clear and regular
accountability with
specific responsibilities
for:
collecting and collating
relevant data
ensuring that governors
regular self-assess their
performance of
accountabilities
writing and publishing an
annual report
Enhanced
responsibilities
Lead communication role
In addition to the annual
report, the clerk should
continue to fulfill all his/her
existing responsibilities in
relation to the publication of
agendas and minutes.
Without diminishing the role
of the Chair, the clerk could
become the recognised
gatekeeper and gateway of
all communications to,
between and from
governors, ensuring
efficiency, effectiveness and
consistency
Enhanced
responsibilities
Ensure statutory
responsibilities are met
As the main legal adviser
to the governors, the clerk
could ensure and report
annually on governors’
fulfillment of their
statutory responsibilities
Enhanced
responsibilities
Standing items for agendas
The clerk’s responsibility
for shaping an agenda in
partnership with the chair
and headteacher should
be enhanced to make
him/her the lead officer
for constructing and
publishing the agenda,
including standing items
which he/she knows to be
essential.
Enhanced
responsibilities
Standing items for
agendas
He/she could also take
responsibility for ensuring
that agendas are relevant,
purposeful, reflective of
governors’ three key roles
(especially the strategic
role) and capable of being
dealt with adequately in
the time allowed
Enhanced
responsibilities
Disqualify governors
Recruit and appoint
community governors
Deny late papers
Receive complaints
and ensure process
followed
Appoint appeals
panels
Increased powers
Disqualify governors
Governing bodies are
often reluctant to address
this issue because of the
perceived personal nature
of such a step and the
potential for unhelpful
repercussions.
Increased powers
Disqualify governors
Putting responsibility for
action on neutral clerks
would take away that
dilemma and ensure
appropriate action is taken
promptly: disqualification
and new governor identified
to fill the resultant vacancy
In order to ensure that
governors do not feel
sidelined by this, the clerk
should notify them that
he/she intends to take the
necessary action at least one
calendar month beforehand
Increased powers
Recruitment and
appointment of
community governors
Statistically the
Community Governor
category has the second
highest proportion of
vacancies (national
average 14.1%) and yet is
the only category over
which the governing body
has direct recruitment
control
Increased powers
Recruitment and
appointment of
community governors
Removing this responsibility
from the governing body
and giving to clerks the
responsibility and power to
act, within prescribed
timescales and against laid
down criteria, governing
bodies will be able to be
confident that they will have
the full membership to share
responsibility and workload
Increased powers
Recruitment and
appointment of
community governors
Governors would still be
free to nominate
appropriate people for
this type of vacancy and
see the sort of potted
biography for each
candidate that the best
governing bodies
currently demand
Increased powers
Deny papers and decisions
if not compliant with
regulatory requirements
Meeting agendas and
supporting papers must
be provided to governors
at least 7 days in advance
of the meeting. The
regulation is often flouted
without good cause and
governors often fail to
deny consideration of
those late documents
Increased powers
Deny papers and decisions
if not compliant with
regulatory requirements
Led by their chair,
governing bodies would
retain their absolute right
to decide on the agenda
and accept genuinely
urgent business but
empowering the clerk
would provide clarity and
allow governors to focus
on their strategic role
Increased powers
Receive complaints and
ensure process followed
Ensure the policy is up-todate and regularly
scheduled for review
Be trained to deal with all
complaints professionally
Ensure effective
communication between
all parties throughout the
process
Appoint governors’ to
complaint panels
Increased powers
Receive complaints and
ensure process followed
Convene the hearing and
ensure all parties, including
witnesses, are invited to attend
Manage all paperwork
including circulation of
evidence
Inform complainants of the
governing body’s decision
Report to the governing body
on any necessary changes as a
result of complaints that are
upheld
Increased powers
Appoint Appeals Panels:
Staff Dismissal; Pupil
Exclusion
At present governing
bodies are responsible for
providing a panel for the
above categories of
hearing. The process is
initiated by the governing
body and this often
causes a delay in the fair
process and increased
distress for the appellant
Increased powers
Appoint Appeals Panels:
Staff Dismissal; Pupil
Exclusion
Governing bodies would
remain the decision
making authority. But
channelling all
management of this work
through the Clerk from
the outset would speed
up the process and
remove this inappropriate
operational burden from
governing bodies
Increased powers
What do you like and
dislike about these
proposals?
If they were all
implemented, how
would it affect your
job?
What’s missing?