The government is to axe its support programme for schools and trusts with “weak” governance, it has emerged.
The Department for Education hired the National Governance Association (NGA) to run the National Leaders of Governance (NLG) programme for up to four years in 2021, but it has now said the scheme will be wound-up when the current contract comes to an end in October.
The programme sends in external designated NLGs to conduct reviews of governance and support for both schools and academy trusts that have been referred by regional school directors or local authorities.
Experienced governors, trustees, governance professionals, advisers and consultants from across England were hired as NLGs and were expected to conduct reviews, write a report and action plan and revisit to assess progress after three months.
The NGA said having the opportunity to review and improve their governance structures and practice “has brought much-needed rigour and focus on governance”.
Emma Knights, chief executive of the NGA, said: “The NGA would like to express our profound gratitude to the 76 highly trained and experienced NLGs who have fully embraced working as part of a managed and quality-assured team.
“Their work has been praised by local authorities, diocesan bodies and the DfE’s Regions Group, all of whom have commissioned NLGs to undertake reviews and support work. It has been a great example of how practitioners from within the sector can add to its knowledge and standards of practice.
“Most importantly it has led to more secure schools and trusts, which is crucial in these difficult times in order to deliver the best that can be delivered for pupils.”
NGA has said it will continue to offer reviews as part of its consultancy service.
The NGA has published a section of correspondence from the DfE, which said that the decision “in no way reflects the quality of the support that has been delivered through the reformed programme since it launched in October 2021”.
The DfE correspondence also told the NGA that this was reflected in the positive first-year evaluation report published last November.
A DfE spokesperson said: “Strong governance remains a core pillar of the department’s vision for ensuring quality in the school system and we are grateful to the National Governance Association for delivering the National Leaders of Governance programme.
“We will not be continuing with the contract beyond its current term. The department has had to take difficult decisions over how taxpayers’ money is spent, and should only step in where support is most needed.”
The evaluation, carried out last year, said that it was too early to say to what extent the reformed NLG programme had effectively challenged schools and trusts to improve performance.
But it added that stakeholders reflected positively on the level of consistency, rigour and challenge being offered through the reformed programme compared to the previous less structured support offered through NLGs.
The report also said that despite some regional and local capacity constraints, the profile and number of NLGs recruited and designated in this first year were sufficient to meet the level of demand from referrals.
It also highlighted that the programme did not operate as a single model in its first year of delivery, adding: “There was variance in referral approach, eligibility and targeting, and delivery of or signposting to additional support and capacity building.
“These differences limited consistency and could potentially undermine overall outcomes and the ability of the programme to challenge all schools and trusts engaged to improve performance.”
