Issue - meetings

That Members, who fail within a reasonable period of time, to nominate to Local Authority governorships, following appropriate discussion with Members, Clerks and individual Schools, lose their right to nominate and the governing body is asked to nominate to the vacancy.

The Governor Development Co-ordinating Manager, Education and Youth, introduced a report to update members on the provision of the mandatory training programme for school governors and to provide a summary overview of the nomination process for Local Authority governors to schools. 

            The Governor Development Co-ordinating Manager,  provided background information and referred to the Governor Development Programme and the Welsh Government regulations which came into force in September 2013 concerning mandatory training for school governors. 

Members spoke in support of the Governor Training Programme but expressed a number of concerns around the venues, times, and number of courses offered.  They also raised concerns around the requirement to attend mandatory training which they felt could be a deterrent to the recruitment and retention of school governors who provided a voluntary service in addition to other responsibilities and commitments.   The Governor Development Co-ordinating Manager commented on the initiatives which had been introduced in response to reduced funding and the need to maximise resources.  She referred to the collaborative work being undertaken with other Authorities to provide training directly or to delegate to accredited persons or organisations, and the proposal to introduce on-line training modules in the future to cover the mandatory training requirement. 

            The Governor Development Co-ordinating Manager referred to the nomination of Local Authority (LA) governors and advised that the current policy for the nomination of LA governor positions which were due for renewal was vested in the local Member in whose division the relevant school was situated. As a result of a number of long standing requests for nominations which remained outstanding it was proposed that the existing policy be revised. The Committee was asked to consider the proposal that Members who fail within a reasonable period of time to nominate to LA governorships lose their right to nominate and the governing body be asked to nominate to the vacancy.   

            Members referred to the difficulty experienced by school Governing Bodies in the recruitment of school governors.  Mr. David Hytch and Councillor Colin Legg suggested that an advert be placed in the local media to encourage members of the public to come forward and apply for vacancies or form a “reserve pool” of volunteers.   The Governor Development Co-ordinating Manager agreed to raise the possibility of advertising vacancies through the media with the Flintshire Governors Association.  Mrs. Rebecca Stark suggested that interested persons could contact the Headteacher, Chair or Clerk to discuss the role and responsibilities of a school governor and it was agreed that the wording of the proposal be amended to reflect this.

RESOLVED:

That Members, who fail within a reasonable period of time, to nominate to Local Authority governorships, following appropriate discussion with Members, Clerks and individual Schools, lose their right to nominate and the governing body is asked to nominate to the vacancy.