The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2012/1034 |
| Year | 2012 |
2012 No. 1034
Education, England
The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012
Made 14th April 2012
Laid before Parliament 19th April 2012
Coming into force 1st September 2012
The Secretary of State for Education makes the following Regulations in exercise of the power conferred by sections 19(1A), (2), (3), (4A) and (4B), 20(2) and (3) and 210(7) of the Education Act 20021.
PART 1
Introduction
Citation, commencement and application
1. These Regulations may be cited as the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 and come into force on 1st September 2012.
2. These Regulations apply to a governing body if—
(a) the governing body are constituted under an instrument of government that takes effect on or after 1st September 2012; or
(b) where the governing body are constituted under an instrument of government that takes effect before 1st September 2012, the governing body or local authority decide under regulation 32(2) of the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 20072(“the Constitution Regulations 2007”) that the instrument of government should be varied.
3. These Regulations apply only in relation to maintained schools in England3.
Revocation of Constitution Regulations 2007, saving and transitional provisions
4.—(1) The Constitution Regulations 2007 are revoked subject to paragraph (2).
(2) The Constitution Regulations 2007 continue to apply to a governing body constituted under an instrument of government that takes effect before 1st September 2012 unless and until these Regulations apply to the governing body by virtue of regulation 2(b).
(3) A decision by a governing body under regulation 32(2) of the Constitution Regulations 2007 is to be treated for the purposes of these Regulations as a decision of the governing body under regulation 30(2) of these Regulations.
Interpretation
5.—(1) In these Regulations—
“EA 1996” means the Education Act 19964;
“SSFASSFA 1998” means the School Standards and Framework Act 19985;
“EA 2002” means the Education Act 2002;
“parent” includes any individual who has or has had parental responsibility for, or cares or has cared for, a child or young person under the age of 19;
“nominating body” means any person who nominated the governor in question; and
“qualifying foundation school” means a foundation or a foundation special school which has a foundation which meets any one or more of the conditions in section 23A(2),(3) and (4) of the SSFASSFA 19986.
(2) Any reference in these Regulations to—
(a)
(a) “a governor” is a reference to a member of a governing body of any school to which the provision applies;
(b)
(b) “the local authority” is a reference to the local authority who maintain the school; and
(c)
(c) “a foundation” or to “a school having a foundation” is to be read in accordance with section 21 of SSFASSFA 1998.
PART 2
Categories of governor
Parent governor
6.—(1) In these Regulations “parent governor” means—
(a)
(a) a person who—
(i) is elected in accordance with paragraphs 4 to 8 of Schedule 1 as a governor by parents of registered pupils7at the school, and
(ii) is such a parent at the time of election;
(b)
(b) where the school is a maintained nursery school, a person who is elected in accordance with paragraphs 4 to 8 of Schedule 1 as a governor by—
(i) parents of registered pupils at the school, or
(ii) parents of children for whom educational or other provision is made on the premises of the school (including any such provision made by the governing body under section 27 of EA 2002),
and is such a parent at the time of election; or
(c)
(c) a person who is appointed as a parent governor in accordance with paragraphs 9 to 11 of Schedule 1.
Staff governor
7. In these Regulations “staff governor” means a person who—
(a) is elected in accordance with Schedule 2 as a governor by persons who are employed by either the governing body or the local authority under a contract of employment providing for those persons to work at the school, and
(b) is so employed at the time of election.
Local authority governor
8. In these Regulations “local authority governor” means a person who—
(a) is nominated by the local authority; and
(b) is appointed as a governor by the governing body having, in the opinion of the governing body, met any eligibility criteria that they have set.
Foundation governor
9. In these Regulations—
(a) “foundation governor” means a person who—
(i) is appointed as a governor by any person other than the local authority,
(ii) is appointed for the purpose of securing that the character of the school including, where the school has a particular religious character8such religious character, is preserved and developed,
(iii) where the school has a foundation, is appointed for the purpose of securing that the school is conducted in accordance with the foundation’s governing documents, including, where appropriate, any trust deed relating to the school, and
(iv) would, in the opinion of the person entitled to appoint the foundation governor, be capable of achieving the purposes for which they would be appointed as a foundation governor;
(b) “ex officio foundation governor” means a person who is a foundation governor by virtue of an office held by the person;
(c) “substitute governor” means a foundation governor appointed to act in the place of an ex officio foundation governor who is unwilling or unable to act as a governor or has been removed from office under regulation 21(1).
Partnership governor
10.—(1) In these Regulations “partnership governor” means a person who is appointed as such in accordance with Schedule 3.
(2) Where the school has a religious character, “partnership governor” means a person who is appointed for the purpose of securing that such religious character is preserved and developed.
Co-opted governor
11. In these Regulations “co-opted governor” means a person who is appointed as a governor by the governing body and who, in the opinion of the governing body, has the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.
Associate members
12. In these Regulations “associate member” means a person who is appointed by the governing body as a member of any committee established by them but who is not a governor.
PART 3
Constitution of governing bodies
Requirements for all maintained schools
13.—(1) The governing body of every maintained school must be constituted in accordance with this regulation.
(2) The total membership of the governing body of a maintained school must be no fewer than seven governors.
(3) The governing body of a maintained school must include the following—
(a)
(a) at least two parent governors;
(b)
(b) the head teacher unless the head teacher resigns the office of governor in accordance with regulation 19;
(c)
(c) one staff governor; and
(d)
(d) one local authority governor.
(4) The governing body may in addition appoint such number of co-opted governors as they consider necessary provided that the requirements in regulation 14 are met in respect of governing bodies of foundation and voluntary schools.
(5) The total number of co-opted governors who are also eligible to be elected as staff governors under Schedule 2, when counted with the staff governor and the head teacher, must not exceed one third of the total membership of the governing body.
Additional requirements for foundation and voluntary schools
14.—(1) The governing body of a foundation school or a foundation special school9which, in either case, does not have a foundation, must also include at least two (but no more than one quarter of the total) partnership governors.
(2) The governing body of a foundation school or a foundation special school which, in either case, has a foundation but which is not a qualifying foundation school, must also include at least two (but no more than 45 per cent of the total) foundation governors.
(3) The governing body of a qualifying foundation school must also include such number of foundation governors as to outnumber all the other governors by up to two.
(4) The governing body of a voluntary aided school10must also include such number of foundation governors as to outnumber all the other governors by two.
(5) The governing body of a voluntary controlled school11must also include at least two (but no more than one quarter of the total) foundation governors.
(6) In calculating the number of governors required in order to comply with this regulation, the number is to be rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.
Surplus governors
15.—(1) Where—
(a)
(a) a maintained school has more governors of a particular category than are provided for by the instrument of government for the school, and
(b)
(b) the excess is not eliminated by the required number of governors resigning,
(c)
(c) such number of that category as is required to eliminate the excess must cease to hold office in...
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