Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Terry Hall.  In the absence of both the Chair and Vice Chair, the Panel agreed that Councillor Stockdale Chair this meeting. 

Councillor Stubbs declared a personal non prejudicial interest as he is a governor at Milton Cross School. 

RECOMMENDED that the minutes of the Education, Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 16 December 2013 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record. 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Education, Children & Young People's Scrutiny Panel held on 16 December 2013 be confirmed as a correct record. 

The following witnesses will be attending to speak and answer questions from the panel:

·         Mandy Parsons, Head of Governor Services, Hampshire County Council

·         Mark Mitchell, Chair of Governors at The Harbour School

Other witnesses from the following groups have been invited to contribute to the review at this or future meetings depending on availability:

·         Highbury Primary School

·         Arundel Court Primary School

·         Corpus Christi Primary School

·         Westover Primary School

·         Wimborne Junior School

·         Priory School

·         Mary Rose Special School

The chair welcomed all guests to the meeting and introductions were made around the table before evidence was given.

(a)          Mandy Parsons, Hampshire Governor Services

A paper had been circulated with the agenda on the Hampshire Clerking Service to Governing Bodies.  Mandy Parsons said that the role of the clerk was crucial to the success of a school and that the national profile of the clerk has risen considerably in recent years.  An experienced clerk who is brought into a struggling school could make a huge difference to the performance of the school.  The role of a clerk is to organise meetings, offer guidance and provide support to the chair of governors.   Hampshire Governor Services in partnership with the Southern Education Leadership Trust is currently involved in writing a training programme for clerks and this would come to the market in June this year.  This will complement Hampshire's existing accredited programme for clerks.  Hampshire Governor Services have been running a clerking service for 15 years and the traded clerking service now had 136 clerks providing a clerking service to 250-260 schools.  There is also a bank of skilled clerks that are available when schools were having difficulty finding someone to clerk a meeting. 

Clerks are highly skilled and an average clerk will clerk for two schools.  As the role is part time it often attracts mothers with young children or retired people.  Therefore the turnover is often high for example mothers may decide to return to work.   The administration of the clerks was also complicated.  They work under the same terms and conditions as full time staff but there was an additional complication with many performing the role at home and there were sometimes problems with finding cover when a clerk was off sick. 

The performance of clerks is important and meeting performance was a matter for the chair of governors to monitor.  When performance issues are raised, Hampshire Governor Services work closely with the chair of governors and manage the situation with the school.  All clerks have an annual performance review.

The following additional information was given in response to members' questions:

·         With regard to making the clerking role full time, Mandy Parsons advised that governing bodies typically meet six times a year and usually meeting dates cluster in the same week or two.  It would therefore be very difficult to make the role full time for those clerks who look after multiple schools.  Some clerks also have day jobs and clerk in the evening. A few clerks are employed on annualised hours[1], to provide cover at short notice when a school finds they do not have a clerk for a meeting. 

·         The clerking service is fully traded and not funded by Hampshire County Council.  The service costs in the region of  £1,500 a year dependent on the number of hours that a clerk works. 

·         The National College for Teaching and Leadership is currently developing a national development programme for Clerks which will initially be delivered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

·         Monday 24 February 2014 at 7:00pm

The date of the next meeting was agreed as Monday 24 February at 7pm.  Officers would meet with the Chair to discuss how many more meetings were required to complete the review.