Maintained schools in England no longer have to provide a governors’ report, but you must do this if you are in Wales. Academies must provide an annual statement on governance with their annual accounts but this is not aimed at parents.
Note that the details of what schools and academies must publish online is covered in a separate article.
Governors’ Reports In Maintained Schools
The Education Act 2002 originally said that a “governors’ report” must be written annually. This law applied to maintained schools in England and Wales. It was amended by the Education Act 2005 to only apply to Wales.
“Once in every school year the governing body of a maintained school shall prepare a report (a “governors’ report”) dealing with such matters, and otherwise complying with such requirements, as may be specified in regulations.”
Education Act 2002 (section 30). This paragraph was amended by the Education Act 2005 so that it now refers only to maintained schools in Wales.
There also used to be a requirement under the Education Act 2005 that governors must publish a school “profile”, but this requirement has also been removed (under the Education Act 2011).
“The governing body of a maintained school in England shall prepare and publish a document (a “school profile”). Regulations may require the school profile to contain statements by the governing body as to prescribed matters.”
Education Act 2005 (section 30A). This paragraph was removed from the law by the Education Act 2001 (section 32).
Welsh schools must still provide a report under Schedule 2 of the School Governors’ Annual Reports (Wales) Regulations 2011. Schedule 2 contains details of all the items that must be included.
English governors may still wish to provide parents with an annual report. DfE departmental advice on the Roles, Procedures and Allowances regulations 2013 recommends that an “annual governance statement” is written.
This departmental advice is non-statutory so it is not a requirement, but it recommends that the governance statement includes details of committee remits, attendance rates at meetings and how effective you think the board has been with details of any challenges faced.
“It is also good practice for the board to publish an annual governance statement (as academy trusts are required to do through the Accounts Direction) to explain how it has fulfilled its responsibilities – particularly in relation to its core functions, including:
– the governance arrangements that are in place, including the remit of any committees;
– the attendance record of individual governors at board and committee meetings; and
– an assessment of the effectiveness and impact of the board and any committees with details of any particular challenges that have arisen.”
Departmental Advice on the Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) Regulations 2013
If you wish to write a longer governors’ report here is a list of the items that used to be required for maintained school reports, taken from an even older piece of law (now revoked) called the Education (Governors’ Annual Reports) (England) Regulations 1999. This law said that governors’ reports must include:
- details of any parents’ evenings
- names of governors and clerk, plus details of terms of office, governor category and who has appointed each governor (this information must also be on the school website)
- information on parent governor elections
- a financial statement showing the overall budget and an overview of how the money was spent and any expenses paid for governors
- a description of the arrangements made for the security of pupils and staff
- the number of pupils and details of their attendance
- details of training and professional development attended by staff
- a statement on how successful the governing body’s policy on SEND has been
- percentages of children who reached attainment targets.
Governors’ Reports In Academies
The Academy Trust Handbook states that academies must provide an annual statement on governance alongside its annual accounts. This is not a report to parents but is a requirement of each academy’s funding agreement.
“The trust must provide details of its governance arrangements in the governance statement published with its annual accounts, including what the board has delegated to committees and, in trusts with multiple academies, to local governing bodies.”
Academy Trust Handbook (2021)
Details of what must be included are found in the Academies Accounts Direction which academies must use when preparing their financial statements.
“A governance statement must be included in the annual report as the academy trust is in receipt of public funds. HM Treasury requires all public bodies to prepare a governance statement.
“It includes information on the governance framework of the academy trust and confirmation that the trustees have carried out their responsibility for ensuring that effective management systems, including financial monitoring and control systems, have been put in place.
“The governance statement must be signed on behalf of the board of trustees (usually by the chair) and by the academy trust’s accounting officer.”
Academies Accounts Direction 2019-2020
The accounts direction includes an extensive description of what must be included, covering issues such as the governance framework and committee structure, attendance records, a review of value for money in the use of public assets and a review of the effectiveness of systems of internal control.