Governance Today Summer 2021

The Governance Consultancy Team is thrilled to have collaborated with colleagues in the National Co-ordinators of Governor Services (NCOGS) to produce a Clerking Handbook for all clerks and governance professionals. Some of you may recall the Governance Team created a Devon Clerks Manual in 2015. This new national resource replaces that document and covers the clerking role within both the maintained and academy sectors. There are ‘clerking in action’ scenarios peppered throughout the document, to illustrate issues which your board may encounter and how you can support them. Additionally there are a range of practical resources, including guidance for the annual cycle, policy cycle, agenda setting and writing the minutes. We would love your feedback, particularly on any aspects of the document that you feel don’t work, or additional information it would be helpful to include in future editions. The Handbook will be updated annually, so we can ensure it remains current and incorporate your suggestions. The role of the clerk The Department for Education is currently focusing on the importance of the role of clerks and governance professionals, with a move towards using the term ‘governance professional’ in favour of ‘clerk’ to emphasise that the role encompasses much more than producing minutes and raise the perception of the role amongst governing boards. The DfE cannot mandate on the rate of pay, however they draw attention to the wording within the Governance Handbook, which states: ‘High quality professional clerking is crucial to the effective functioning of the board. The clerk should be the boards’ ‘governance professional’. Their role is not only about good and effective organisation and administration, but also, and more importantly, about helping the board understand its role, functions and legal duties and supporting the chair to enable and facilitate strategic debate and decision making. This is crucial in helping the board exercise its functions expediently and confidently, so that it can stay focused on its core functions. Boards should set demanding standards for the service they expect from their professional clerk and assure themselves that they are employing a clerk with suitable skills, training and knowledge. Consequently, they should expect to pay an appropriate amount commensurate to the professional service they expect their professional clerk to deliver.’ CLERKS’ PAGE We watch this work with interest and will keep clerks updated as more emerges from the Department for Education. Equality Act and the board’s equality objectives Sadly many boards have not personalised the suggested Equality Objectives within the model policy and guidance. Other than adding the name of the school many policies simply replicate the model provided by the Governance Consultancy Team, without reflecting the individual challenges of each setting and community. In order to be effective the Equality Objectives need to be identified through consultation with pupils, parents and staff, including those with protected characteristics. The board should also consult on how successful they and the school is in achieving the agreed objectives. The objectives must be reviewed annually - has the board considered the impact of COVID-19 on their objectives? Have additional equality issues resulted from lockdown and the return to school? Are all pupils able to access the curriculum equally if some pupils need to be educated remotely due to the closure of bubbles or lockdown measures put in place by Government? Clerks can suggest that the objectives are an agenda item and given sufficient meeting time for a proper discussion to take place. A smaller working party, or lead role, could look at the objectives in detail and report to the full board with suggestions. All policies, not just the Equality Policy, could include a reference to equality, to ensure that the board consider how individual policies may impact on particular groups or staff, parents and pupils with protected characteristics. The Governance Consultancy Team has developed a further Q-Card (question card) resource to assist boards, available to download from the subscriber resource area. Recent Ofsted visits have focused on the boards responsibilities relating to equality, so make sure that you capture discussion, challenge and decisions relating to this area within the minutes to evidence to Ofsted the board fulfilling this aspect of their work. 25 Have additional equality issues resulted from lockdown and the return to school? “ High quality professional clerking is crucial to the effective functioning of the board “ Summer 2021