Functions that a governing body needs and guidance on setting up
committees
Governing body working practices should

allocate time according to what is most important, focus on the school's current priorities and
keep up to date with legislative and other changes

use time effectively and ensure that all meetings add value

ensure that it fulfils its legal responsibilities

use freedoms and flexibilities where deemed appropriate
There are no longer any legal requirements about the number and makeup of committees that a
governing body must have BUT every governing body needs to cover certain functions which will
be carried out by committees. These are the ability to (i) make initial decisions and hear appeals
for certain personnel matters and complaints; (ii) to deal with responsibilities relating to exclusions
and (iii) (in voluntary aided and foundation schools) to deal with admissions.
1 'First' Committee function and an 'Appeals' Committee function
PERSONNEL
includes staff if governing body is large
enough but they may not take part in meetings
as a first committee
FIRST COMMITTEE
included as a function of the Personnel
Committee, with delegated powers to deal
with decisions on pay, discipline, grievance
APPEALS COMMITTEE
is a function of another committee
acting with delegated powers to deal
with appeals against decisions on pay,
discipline, grievance
acts as GB complaints appeal
committee
all meetings in Part 2 and minutes
recorded appropriately
likely to act as GB complaints committee
all meetings in Part 2 and minutes
recorded appropriately
Whatever committee structure is chosen, the governing body must be able to deal with matters that
may be subject to appeal (pay, grievance, discipline and complaints) in a fair way that upholds the
individual's rights as well as ensures that the governing body follows proper process. To do this, it
is not necessary to set up more, free standing, committees, but these responsibilities must be
delegated to an existing committee. This means that the terms of reference of one committee
must include, under delegated authority, its power to make initial decisions while those of a
separate committee reflect the power to hear any appeal.
Whenever a committee makes 'first' or 'appeals' decisions, no staff may be present. There must
be at least as many people who hear an appeal as were involved in the initial decision. For this
reason, it is essential that decisions about pay, for example, are made by the committee with the
'first' committee function and NOT considered initially by this committee and then referred to
another committee (e.g. Finance) for decision.
Care needs to be taken that all governors involved in both 'first' and 'appeals' are well versed in the
relevant procedures, i.e. attend relevant training and read up about them. Frequently only
governors serving on personnel committees attend personnel focused training. A badly handled
appeal could lead to a case being taken to an Employment Tribunal.
All minutes of these decisions should be confidential – Part 2. So decisions on pay, discipline,
grievance or complaints should never be considered at, or referred to, a full governing body
meeting to be "ratified". This would undermine any possible appeal and does not follow the
procedures adopted to handle these matters fairly.
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In order to do this, the full governing body – this decision cannot be delegated – must decide what
powers are given to each group. These powers must be explicitly stated in the terms of reference.
The full governing body also must decide who will be in each group – again, a decision that cannot
be delegated. To ensure that the two groups/committees are separate, it is advisable to nominate
named individuals to each.
 Chairs of governors often get to know more about staffing or pupil issues, it is usually not
advisable that they take part in first or appeals matters. This will also allow the chair to be
someone the head may talk to, which can be useful when sensitive or difficult matters are being
dealt with.
 The headteacher will be bringing matters to these committees for their consideration and may
have to withdraw so s/he should also not be included in the quorum of meetings.
 Staff members may not be involved with any first committee function and ideally should not be
involved with any appeal. Staff should, however, be allowed and encouraged to serve on
personnel committees.
2 Pupil Discipline Committee
In order to be able to fulfil requirements for dealing with pupil exclusions, governing bodies will set
up a Pupil Discipline Committee. Staff should not be members of this committee. To ensure there
are always governors available, it is common practice to nominate an experienced chair and draw
the other governors (usually 4 others at a time) from a "pool" of nominated governors. This
committee must have agreed terms of reference. It also requires a knowledgeable clerk.
3 Admissions Committee (in foundation and voluntary aided schools only)
To fulfil their responsibilities for making decisions about admissions, foundation and voluntary
aided schools will need an Admissions Committee.
Setting up committees
It is only the full governing body that can set up committees, agree their terms of reference
(explicitly stating their responsibilities including delegated powers) and their membership.
In setting up committees, governing bodies can choose virtually any combination of
responsibilities. However, grouping responsibilities together that aim to result in a fairly equal
workload across the committees is a good idea. For any governing body, workload and capacity –
governors and staff – are factors that also need to be taken into account and these will determine
the pattern and number of meetings.
The option most commonly chosen by average sized governing bodies is:
 Three committees Committees of equal size membership and governors serve on only one.
The areas of responsibility are: Personnel, Finance & Buildings, and School Improvement. The
Personnel Committee has the "first committee" responsibility. Staff can be on the Personnel
Committee, but care needs to be taken that the committee is still quorate (quorum is usually 3
not including the headteacher) if any staff member needs to withdraw. One of the other two
committees has the "appeal" function, and again, care needs to be taken that there are
sufficient non staff governors.
Smaller governing bodies or those with workload or membership difficulties may choose:
 Two committees The committees of equal size are responsible for Personnel and Finance &
Buildings respectively. The Personnel Committee is the "first" committee and the Finance &
Buildings Committee is the "appeal" committee. School Improvement/curriculum is kept as a
full governing body focus.
Governing bodies of larger schools often choose to have more committees (and their governing
body may have more capacity as it may be larger)
 Four or more committees
The committees are likely to include specific committees with responsibility for Personnel,
Finance, Buildings, and Curriculum/School Improvement. Governors may be permitted to
serve on more than one committee. The Personnel Committee acts as the "first" committee
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while another committee will deal with appeals. In addition, there may be committees dealing
with other responsibilities such as Pastoral, Community etc.
Working parties/task groups
To progress specific tasks, governing bodies can set up working groups and/or assign tasks to
individuals. Where any responsibility for decision making is delegated to an individual or a task
group, this should be clearly recorded in minutes of the meeting at which the group was set up or
the individual assigned the responsibility.
Annual Cycle
Alongside agreeing a committee structure, a governing body should establish a cycle of meetings
and allocate its work across its committees. This will ensure that (a) there is a sensible spread of
work (b) that all responsibilities are covered (c) that all governors, and particularly those taking a
leadership role share an understanding of the scheduled work.
August 2009