In a maintained school governors can be suspended for up to six months. Some academies have the power to suspend trustees, depending on the wording of their articles of association.
In all schools governors can be removed from the board.
Suspending Governors In Maintained Schools
The law gives governing bodies in maintained schools the power to suspend a governor for a fixed period of up to six months.
“The governing body may by resolution suspend a governor for all or any meetings of the school, or of a committee, for a fixed period of up to 6 months.”
Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013
A governor can be suspended in one of four circumstances only, details of which are described below.
The law says that “the governing body may by resolution suspend a governor for all or any meetings of the school, or of a committee”, so suspension is not automatic if one of these situations arises and the board will need to assess the seriousness of the issue before taking action.
When a Governor Can Be Suspended
The governing body of a maintained school can decide to suspend a governor if one of the following situations arises.
- The governor also works for the school and disciplinary proceedings are bring brought against them in relation to their job.
For example, a staff governor who is going through the disciplinary process. - They are part of proceedings in a court or tribunal which could lead to them being automatically disqualified as a governor if found guilty (see the long list of disqualification criteria).
It really is a very long list, but examples would include being disqualified as a company director, being disqualified from working with children or being sentenced to three months or more in prison (without the option of a fine) in the last five years.
Note that this applies when the proceedings could lead to a disqualification, so a suspension rather than permanent removal is used in this instance so that a governor can be reinstated if they are found innocent of the charges. - The governor has behaved in a way that is inconsistent with the ethos or religious character of the school, which is bringing the school, governing body or the office of governor into disrepute.
This is a vague definition which could be interpreted in a number of ways. It may help to have a code of conduct in place so that your board can agree on the desired conduct of governors for areas that are not laid down in law. - They have breached confidentiality.
An obvious example would be revealing the contents of confidential minutes from governing body meetings to non-governors such as parents or colleagues.
How To Suspend a Governor In a Maintained School
The law describes the process you must follow.
- The proposal to suspend a governor must be specified as an item of business on the agenda. This means it cannot come as a surprise to the governor in question and you cannot sneak it in as an Any Other Business item at the end of a meeting.
- The agenda must be sent out at least seven clear days before the meeting. This applies to all agendas as standard practice, but in some cases the chair of governors can decide to hold a meeting at short notice. They cannot decide to do that if the suspension of a governor is being discussed.
- Before a vote is held at the meeting the person who is calling for the suspension must say why they think the governor should be suspended. They should explain how the governor’s actions qualify them for a suspension under one of the four categories listed above.
- The governor who is at risk of suspension must be allowed to make a statement in response.
- The governor at risk of suspension must then leave the room.
- The remaining governors vote on the question and if necessary vote on how long a period the suspension will cover. If a majority vote in favour the governor is suspended.
If the governor is suspended they still have the right to receive messages from the clerk telling them the date and time of the meetings, as well as agendas and papers from meetings, so the clerk can continue to send these as normal.
During their suspension the usual rule that governors can be disqualified for missing six months of meetings in a row do not apply.
One final item to note is that the restrictions placed on delegation in the 2013 regulations say that governing bodies must not delegate the power to suspend one of their governors to any individual governor.
This is common sense, as you would not want one person suspending a governor because of a personality clash or power struggle, but it does clarify that not even the chair of governors can suspend a governor without the approval of the board.
Can associate members be suspended?
The law on suspension in maintained schools refers to “governors” only rather than associate members, so there is no mechanism to suspend associate members.
However, the law also states that associate members may be removed from office by the governing body at any time, so boards may wish to remove the associate member completely.
Suspending Trustees In Academies
The current model articles of association, dated June 2021, do not refer to suspensions at all and so academies using these articles cannot suspend trustees. If your academy uses an earlier version of the articles the board may have different powers.
Let’s look at the December 2014 version of the articles, which say that the board of trustees can suspend a trustee for up to six months if they have acted in a way that contradicts the “professional ethos” of the board (including a failure to undertake training) or has brought the academy into disrepute.
“The board of trustees may by special resolution passed at a meeting of the trustees suspend a trustee for all or any meetings of the academy trust, or of a committee, for a fixed period of up to 6 months where the trustee has acted in a way that is inconsistent with the professional ethos of the board of trustees (which shall include a failure to undertake training appropriate to their role, whether or not directed to do so by the board of trustees) and has brought or is likely to bring the academy trust/any of its academies/the academy or the office of the trustee into disrepute.”
Old Model Articles of Association (December 2014)
How To Suspend A Trustee In An Academy
It is important to check what your own academy’s articles say, but the model articles from December 2014 use the following approach.
Note that a suspension requires a special resolution, as opposed to an ordinary resolution. This means that 75% of trustees must vote in favour, rather than the simple majority (anything over 50%) that is needed to pass an ordinary resolution.
As is the case in maintained schools, suspended trustees retain the right to receive agendas and papers from meetings of the trustees.
- The suspension must be specified as an agenda item.
- The trustee proposing the suspension must say why they feel it is necessary. The trustee at risk of suspension must be allowed to make a statement in response and then leave the meeting.
- A special resolution must be passed in favour of suspension.
“A resolution to suspend a trustee from office does not have effect unless the matter is specified as an item of business on the agenda for the meeting.
“Before a vote is taken on a resolution to suspend a trustee, the trustee proposing the resolution must at the meeting state the reasons for doing so.
“In addition the trustee who is the subject of the resolution must be given the opportunity to make a statement in response before withdrawing from the meeting.
“Nothing in [these] articles may be read as affecting the right of a trustee who has been suspended to receive notices of, and agendas and reports or other papers for, meetings of the board of trustees during the period of their suspension.”
Old Model Articles of Association (December 2014)
If a multi-academy trust wishes to suspend a local governor who sits on a local governing body they will need to check the rules set out in the terms of reference for that local governing body.
Can suspended governors appeal?
Neither the law for maintained schools nor the 2014 model articles for academies require boards to have an appeals process for suspended governors.
It would be possible for a governor to complain to their own school about the suspension, because complaints policies should allow complaints to be lodged by anyone.
However, complaints must be heard by impartial people, so the school would need to recruit an unbiased investigator or panel from outside their own board. These people would have no power to reinstate the governor even if the complaint was upheld.
If all stages of the school complaint policy have been completed it may be possible to escalate the complaint to the DfE (maintained schools) or ESFA (academies), but these bodies will not normally reinvestigate the complaint. They will only check that the school has followed education legislation and statutory policies correctly.