Consultations close today on regulations which would allow some governing body responsibilities to be delegated to individuals such as the headteacher, or to committees. They also bring in new powers to remove nominated parent governors and suspend other board members, and exemptions from having to hold an annual meeting with parents.

But the consultation document, dated May 20, only appeared on the Assembly government website on June 15, and is only available electronically and in English.

A government spokesperson said a Welsh version was not possible because of severe pressures on translation services, and that the final regulations will be bilingual. Preliminary consultations on some of the proposals took place last year, and did not attract a significant response.

But governors say they have not had enough time. Allan Tait, Torfaen’s representative on Governors Wales’s management committee, said: “It is an 80-page document that affects all governing bodies in Wales. We feel snubbed.”