School funding crisis worse due to lack of governors, says charity

THE school funding crisis has worsened because of a shortage of governors, a leading charity has said, as new figures show vacancies on governing boards have risen by almost 40 per cent in two years.

Governor positions in the state sector are voluntary positions that require seven hours of time commitment per week on average.

Schools use governors to make strategic decisions about school spending, as well as to authorise budgets and senior staff appointments.

But Governors for Schools, a charity that recruits professionals to sit on school boards, says its advertised vacancies have risen by almost 40 per cent since 2017.

A lack of financial expertise on governing boards means that schools make less efficient budgetary decisions, worsening the crisis in school funding, the charity said. A 2018 report showed that more than 38 per cent of schools have two or more vacancies on their governing boards.

Lawyers, accountants and other professionals who work as governors are able to advise head teachers on where to allocate spending and how to save money. Hannah Stolton, chief executive of Governors for Schools, said professionals with useful experience say they have less time and energy to work voluntarily to help a local state school than in the past.

“People are saying that they feel like they have less time,” she told The Sunday Telegraph. “I don’t know whether it’s a perception of the role, that they don’t have enough time to do it, or whether people are feeling time-poor due to work commitments or family commitments.”

The latest government statistics show that the number of adults in the UK who volunteer in any sector at least once a month has fallen in the last five years, from 44 per cent of adults to 38.

Ms Stolton also suggested that the introduction of multi-academy trusts, that have both governors in individual schools and trustees of the wider group, might have confused potential applicants. Schools ask the charity to recruit professions for their boards because they need more help with financial management, procurement or HR.

Heads across the UK have warned that schools may be forced to run for four and a half days per week because of cuts to budgets. In his first speech as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said he would “level up per-pupil funding in primary and secondary schools”.