Transcript Document
David Marriott Ltd 0770 3367451 [email protected] www.thegovernor.org.uk All documents available for download at www.thegovernor.org.uk 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?