Governance leaders say they “can’t just ignore” growing support for governors to be paid and they now plan to start a debate on it across the sector.
In a new report on governor workload, the National Governance Association (NGA) identifies significant pressures impacting on governors - to the point where more than a quarter of volunteers are considering resigning. Governors are struggling with growing vacancies, rising exclusions, more escalated complaints and huge time commitments, the NGA reports.
One of the potential solutions explored in the report, seen by Tes, is paying governors in order to help attract and retain them.
The NGA says that “the appetite for governance being a paid role has grown over the last few years” and “we can’t just ignore these changing views”.
Some 40 per cent of members responding to an NGA survey this year agreed that governance should be paid. This figure has been slowly increasing since the pandemic, when only 28 per cent of respondents said governors should be paid.
The NGA now plans “to initiate a comprehensive debate among its members and the wider sector, focusing on exploring the case for remuneration.”
School governors ‘spending more time on exclusions’
The NGA is also calling for a “fundamental shift” in the role of governing boards in exclusions, as this work and complaints were found to be the most time consuming aspects of the role.
The report calls for a debate in the sector on an alternative system to governors and trustees being expected to conduct exclusion panels.
Sam Henson, director of policy at the NGA, said the new report sheds light on governors’ “mostly unrecognised efforts”.
“While their invaluable contributions have long helped drive improvement and sustainability within the sector, there’s a pressing need for a more comprehensive understanding of what is involved currently and the levels of commitment needed,” he added. “NGA calls for the government, its agencies, sector organisations, and school and trust leaders to listen to this account of an urgent issue that is finally gaining traction.
“The high cost of losing experienced and new board members, largely due to excessive workload pressures, leads us to advocate for both central initiatives by the DfE and collaborative efforts at the board and leadership levels to alleviate workload burdens.”
More complaints being escalated
The NGA received more than 2,000 comments about the “universal pressures” of governing in its 2023 annual survey. It also held three virtual forums in the summer term to speak directly to governors and trustees.
Governors have told the NGA they are seeing more complaints being escalated to the formal and governing board committee stage. As a result, the NGA calls on the government to set out clear guidance on the difference between “vexatious complaints and unreasonable parent behaviour” to help streamline the process.
Research for the NGA shows that the time commitment for governing on a voluntary basis makes it particularly difficult for those with full-time jobs or with young children.
The NGA recommends that meetings should be two hours maximum to limit time commitments, and should provide food.
It adds: ”Those who are perhaps not in a position to contribute meaningfully to the board can be gently encouraged to step down from the governance role. ”
Recruitment problems
The NGA’s 2023 survey shows that recruitment difficulties for governance are at an “all-time high”, with 77 per cent of respondents reporting it as a challenge.
Researchers said this difficulty appeared to have “become entrenched post-pandemic”.
The NGA adds that the opportunity to govern needs to be better promoted, and more Department for Education funding is needed for recruitment.
”This is too important an issue for the DfE to postpone action further,” the report authors say.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
