A guide to good governance for your MAT

What is good governance, and how can you utilise it in your MAT?

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on National Governance Association

The trust board and CEO are expected to: 

• act in accordance with the seven principles of public life;
• follow the Charity Governance Code;
• understand their responsibilities under equality legislation;
• be guided by the Framework for Ethical Leadership in Education. 

Getting the right people around the table 

The trust board is expected to: 

• determine what size and composition works for them;
• ensure its Articles of Association are followed, and amended as required, to reflect current best practice;
• ensure separation between the layers of governance; ie members not serving as trustees, and trustees and executives not serving on academy-level committees;
• conduct skills audits to identify skills gaps and development needs to be met, whether through recruitment or training;
• adopt transparent processes for recruiting and selecting trustees, including interviewing prospective candidates;
• consider targeted recruitment to create a more diverse board;
• replace board members over time (ie after their second term of office), including timely succession planning for the chair.

An effective chair and vice chair

The chair leads the trust board and ensures that it fulfils its functions well. The vice chair can be very important in sharing the leadership of the board – not only making the role of chair more manageable but also acting as a sounding board when there are challenges and opportunities to reflect on. The chair and vice chair are expected to work together to facilitate the trust board working as a team, supporting all trustees to participate actively and equally.

Developing skills and knowledge 

The trust board is expected to prioritise the induction of new trustees, including signposting to relevant training, as appropriate. The CEO is expected to be part of the induction process – for example, by attending a welcome meeting and/or visit to schools in the MAT. The trust board is expected to remain proactive in developing its skills and knowledge; this means keeping up-to-date on its responsibilities and good practice, responding to the results of its skills audit and arranging training as appropriate. The CEO is expected to encourage and support this – for example, through arranging joint training with the trust board and executive team where appropriate. 

Self-evaluation 

The trust board is expected to evaluate its impact on a routine basis as well as the contribution of individual trustees; this includes meeting the expectation of carrying out an annual self-assessment of the trust board, and commissioning independent external reviews of governance. The CEO is expected to support this process. Guidance is available from the DfE on how to arrange an effective external review of governance and questions are available to support the process of self-evaluation.

Conduct 

The trust board is expected to adopt a Code of Conduct which sets out general standards of behaviour and how trustees deal with each other and employees. Both the board and CEO are expected to model the standards of behaviour set out in the code, and to demonstrate their commitment to the trust’s values, ethical governance and leadership.

Avoiding conflicts of interest 

Those governing are expected to avoid conflicts of interest, and related party transactions, and must declare any that exist. The National Audit Office and Charity Commission both provide useful advice on avoiding conflicts of interest. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, it is not good practice to govern on more than two boards.