Guidance on the removal of foundation governors who have been appointed by Gloucester Diocesan Board of Education

(January 2018)

Background

The majority of foundation governors for the church schools in the Diocese of Gloucester are nominated by the Parochial Church Councils (PCC’s) and subsequently appointed by the Diocesan Board of Education (DBE).

Occasionally problems arise regarding the appointment or re-appointment of governors that prove difficult to rectify. These are forwarded to the Director of Education who establishes an appropriate method to deal with the situation. This may also involve the help of the Archdeacon for the parish concerned.

Exceptionally there may be circumstances where a foundation governor appointed by the DBE, who still has part of their term of office to run, is causing difficulties locally. After contact from the governing body or the school the initial response from the Diocese will be help and advice on strategies to help resolve the situation. An adviser from the Diocese might need to speak to the foundation governor concerned about the situation. Here again the involvement of the Director and/or the Archdeacon for the parish concerned might be required. In some cases the initial referral to the Archdeacon and the resulting conversation may be enough to resolve the problem.

There may be persuasion at a local level for the foundation governor to stand aside in favour of someone else by tendering his/her resignation. The involvement of the Archdeacon and/or Director may be required, if necessary, to persuade the governor to resign “by quiet means”. In any event a written record should be kept of the circumstances and the strategies employed to resolve a situation.

On rare occasions circumstances may arise where it may be necessary to consider the removal of an appointed foundation governor from office mid-term. This is a delicate issue and should only be considered where all other options have been considered.

The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 state that

foundation governors may be removed from office by the person or persons who appointed them (Reg: 20& 25).The appointing person or persons must give written notice of the removal to the Clerk to the governors. This means that the DBE has the right to remove any foundation governor that it has appointed.

In addition the governing body may remove an ex-officio foundation governor at the request of the person named in the Instrument of Government as the person entitled to make such a request. In Gloucester Diocese the person entitled to make this request in the Archdeacon or the parish in which the school is situated. (Reg: 21 & 25)

NB: Legally any decision to remove made by the DBE could be subject to Judicial Review.

Possible Reasons to request Removal

This list is not exhaustive, nor is it produced in any order of priority

  • Actions against the interests and purposes of the Foundation or original Trust
  • Working against the Christian character of the school
  • Neglect of duty or failure to discharge the responsibilities of a foundation governor
  • Continual breach of confidentiality or Code of Conduct
  • Misconduct in the Diocese
  • Damage to stability of the school through inappropriate action or public statement, including via social media
  • Extreme breakdown in relationships. (E.g. The foundation governor…is at odds with all other governors and cannot work with them…has a personal loathing of the head teacher which colours his/her conduct as a governor.)
  • Damage to the credibility of the church or the parish
  • Immoral personal conduct
  • Violence on school premises (to persons or property)
  • Majority of teaching staff pass a motion of no-confidence in the foundation governor

Removal of Foundation GovernorProcess(Reg: 20 & 25)

1. If the Director of Education decides that the removal of a foundation governor from office mid-term should be considered, the matter will be referred to the appropriate Diocesan Board of Education (DBE) panel/committee.

2. As removal is a serious matter a minimum of three panel/committee, or DBE members should consider the matter.

3. The foundation governor concerned will be informed in writing of the decision to refer the matter of their removal to the panel/committee, and will be given the right to make written representations to the panel within 10 days, prior to a decision being made.

4. Within a further 10 working days a meeting of the panel/committee will be convened to discuss the case and a Diocesan officer with experience of governance will attend for purposes of advising and recording the meeting.

5. The reasonsfor requesting the removal of the foundation governor,together with supporting evidence, will be scrutinised. The panel/committee will also consider any written representation from the foundation governor.

6. The panel/committee will make their decision.

(The decision will be reported to the next DBE meeting for information.)

7. Within 5 working days, and without giving details of the discussions, the decision will be communicated in writing to the foundation governor concerned and the clerk to the governing body.

8. Simultaneously, for information purposes, the decision will be communicated to Parochial Parish Council (PCC), the Headteacher and the relevant Archdeacon for the parish

9. The decision will be conveyed to Governor Services, Gloucester LocalAuthority (and South Gloucestershire Local Authority where applicable) for record keeping purposes only.

10. The PCC will be invited to nominate a replacement foundation governor for DBE appointment.

Removal of Ex-officio Foundation Governor Process(Reg: 21 & 25)

1. The Archdeacon informs the Clerk to the Governors in writing of the request to remove the ex-officio foundation governor, detailing the reason(s) why.

(Copy the Education Department at the Diocese of Gloucester).

2. Simultaneously the Archdeacon informs the ex-officio foundation governor in writing of the request to remove him/her as the ex-officio foundation governor, detailing the reason(s) why.

3. The request for removal must be considered at the next full governing body meeting.

4. The request must appear as an item of business on the agenda, usually in the form of a resolution.

5. At the meeting the clerk presents the request to remove from the Archdeacon, together with the reason(s) why.

6. The ex-officio foundation governor must be given the opportunity to give a statement in reply.

7. A vote must take place to agree (or not) the resolution (request) to remove the ex-officio foundation governor.

(The ex-officio will withdraw from the meeting whilst the vote is conducted)

8. The removal must be confirmed by resolution at a second meeting, not less than 14 days after the first.

9. The confirmation must appear as an item of business on the agenda.

10. If the removal is confirmed the clerk informs the ex-officio foundation governor in writing that the governors have agreed the removal.

11. Simultaneously the clerk confirms the decision to the Archdeacon.

12. For information purposes, the clerk will communicate the decision tothe Education Department, Gloucester Diocese, and the Parochial Church Council (PCC)

13.The decision will be conveyed to Governor Services, Gloucester Local Authority (and South Gloucestershire Local Authority where applicable) for record keeping purposes only.

14. The Education Department liaises with the Archdeacon to initiate the process to appoint a substitute ex-officio foundation governor.

(Removal Process -Initially approved by the Diocesan Board of Education: 26 June 2002)

(Updated March 2010)

(Reviewed and updated January 2018)

Approved by the Diocesan Board of Education: 20 February 2018

This document will be reviewed bi-annually or when there is a change in Regulations.

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