Taylor (1977)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Membership, Preface, Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Present arrangements for school government
Chapter 3 A new approach to school government
Chapter 4 Membership of the new governing bodies
Chapter 5 Communication and cooperation
Chapter 6 Curriculum
Chapter 7 Finance
Chapter 8 Appointments
Chapter 9 Other functions
Chapter 10 Training the new governors
Chapter 11 Procedural arrangements
Chapter 12 The government of voluntary schools
Chapter 13 Recommendations and implementation
Summary of recommendations

Notes of extension and dissent, minority report

Appendix A Evidence
Appendix B History of school managers and governors
Appendix C Visits
Appendix D Education Act 1944: selected extracts
Appendix E Administrative Memorandum No 25 (1945)
Appendix F Letter to parents
Appendix G Aims into practice

Index

Report of the Committee of Enquiry appointed jointly by the Secretary of State for Education and Science and the Secretary of State for Wales under the chairmanship of Mr Tom Taylor CBE

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1977
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Chapter 12 The government of voluntary schools
[pages 99 - 102]

12.1 About one third of all maintained schools (1), whose running costs, including teachers' salaries, are met by local education authorities, have been provided by voluntary foundations (mainly associated with the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches). The contribution made by these bodies is recognised in certain statutory features which distinguish the arrangements for the management and government of such schools from those for county schools, which are wholly provided as well as maintained by local education authorities. In his letter of 5 May 1975 to our Chairman the then Secretary of State for Education and Science said, among other things:

'We think the Committee will find it helpful if we say at the outset that we do not expect the Committee to concern itself with those aspects of the present arrangements for voluntary schools which arise essentially from their voluntary character and which reflect the respective interests of the providing body and of the local education authority in the provision and administration of a voluntary school. These aspects include particularly the relative responsibilities of the authority and the providing body for the provision of premises and finance; their relative shares in appointing the persons who are to be responsible for the conduct of the school and, directly or indirectly, in the appointment of its staff; the arrangements for determining the character of the school, for the admission of pupils, for denominational religious worship and teaching, and for the use of the school premises outside school hours.

It is not the government's intention to review at present the structure of the 'dual system' of county and voluntary schools, which was established after the most careful consideration and clearly remains generally acceptable to educational and public opinion. In considering the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee in due course, however, we shall have regard to any implications they may have for the matters mentioned above.'

12.2 Voluntary schools are of three kinds, each of which has in some respects different arrangements for management and government. Some of the more important features of each are the following:

a. An aided school, in respect of which the providing foundation has certain continuing financial responsibilities (2), has a governing body of whose members two thirds (the 'foundation' governors) are appointed by the providing body and one third (the 'representative' governors) by the local education authority. The governing body of such a school has statutory responsibility for appointing the head and teachers (subject to some safeguards as regards dismissals), for controlling the religious - and also, in the case of a secondary school, the secular - instruction given to the pupils, and (subject to some limited powers conferred on the local education authority) for the occupation and use of the school premises.

b. A controlled school, in respect of which the foundation has no continuing financial responsibility, has a governing body of whose members two thirds are appointed by the local education authority and one third by the foundation. The governing body of such a school has a statutory duty to provide a limited amount of denominational religious instruction at parents' request, certain functions in relation to the appointment of religious education teachers; and limited powers to determine the use of school premises.

c. A special agreement school, in respect of which the financial responsibilities of the foundation are similar to those relating to an aided school, has a governing body similarly constituted. Its governing body has powers similar to those of an aided school's in respect of religious education and the use of the school premises.

12.4 Our evidence included proposals for changes in the management and government of voluntary schools. Both the Catholic Education Council and the Board of Education of the General Synod of the Church of England (the latter presenting evidence jointly with the National Society for Promoting Religious Education) recognised the need for widening the basis of representation on the managing and governing bodies of voluntary schools. Teacher and other organisations connected with voluntary schools also favoured reform to facilitate wider participation. The churches have been active in promoting discussion of ways to do this without damaging the essential features which characterise the voluntary school and make it an important component of the public education service. We are conscious that they look to us to offer a lead, by pointing out the directions in which the management and government of county schools ought to develop, so that they can move consistently and avoid the risk of unnecessarily widening the differences between the two elements of the 'dual system'.

12.5 Some of the recommendations we have made in earlier chapters, and very many of the observations which lead up to and amplify our recommendations, will be applicable to voluntary schools without difficulty. For example, the abolition of grouping, the training of governors, acceptance of the LEA's decisions on the dates of school holidays, and the payment of necessary expenses, are matters which can be put in hand without distinction between one kind of school and another.

12.6 Our main recommendations, however, have implications which would make their implementation in voluntary schools difficult, if not impossible, without some changes in the essential distinguishing characteristics of a voluntary school in the 'dual system' as at present structured. Even our basic assumption about the proper relationship between the governing body and the local education authority (paragraph 3.17) does not hold good in the case of a voluntary school. The powers and duties of voluntary school governors derive not only from those of the local education authority but also from those of the providing body, and the individual governor is not only the holder of a public office but also the guardian of a trust (3). The broadening of membership would be hard to accomplish without either an increase in size or a diminution in the representation of the providing body, because the latter's representatives have statutory functions in relation to the character of the school and therefore could not be selected by other interests. The composition of a voluntary school governing body on the 'four equal shares' principle that we have recommended for county schools (paragraph 4.6) would clearly be incompatible, in the present framework of the 'dual system', with its exercise of some of the responsibilities and powers which we think appropriate for a governing body. Even a matter which might at first sight seem to be of minor importance, such as the availability of the school buildings for community purposes (paragraphs 9.23-9.34) could have major implications for the conduct of an aided school and the financial responsibilities of its governors.

12.7 Some of our witnesses have suggested means by which attempts might be made to solve these problems. For example, the Board of Education of the General Synod of the Church of England discussed in their evidence to us 'several possible ways of reconciling size with a reasonable spread of representation' and the Catholic Education Council were willing to contemplate some reduction in the representation of providing bodies. It would not be hard to think of other possibilities which would merit consideration. It is not for us, however, to enter into a detailed discussion of the problems or their possible solutions. Even if the Secretary of State had not guided our main efforts in other directions, we should have been very conscious that our own recommendations have in certain respects made the issues relating to voluntary school government rather different from those to which our witnesses were addressing themselves and that in the course of any full consideration of those issues there may well emerge new questions and new initiatives which could be properly followed up only by those with a continuing responsibility for the relevant aspects of the education service.

12.8 If the recommendations we have proposed for county schools were, in the main, to be implemented within a five year period and during that time nothing were done by way of consultation and subsequent recommendation about the arrangements for voluntary schools, it is obvious that there would develop increasing differences between the arrangements for the government of county and voluntary schools. This, we believe, could cause difficulties.

12.9 We RECOMMEND therefore that:

a. to the extent that our other recommendations can be implemented without giving rise to any issue of principle in relation to the structure of the 'dual system', their application in respect of voluntary schools should be given by those concerned equal consideration with their application in respect of county schools; and

b. the Secretaries of State should put in hand as soon as possible consultation with representatives of the providing bodies, the local education authorities and all other parties concerned with a view to the adoption for voluntary schools of arrangements for management and government following as closely as practicable the lines of those we have recommended for county schools.

Footnotes

(1) In January 1976, there were approximately 9,000 voluntary schools with 2 million pupils, and 19,000 county schools with 7 million pupils.

(2) The managing or governing body of an aided school is responsible for providing the site and school buildings, including any significant enlargements that may be needed, and for keeping the exterior of the building in good repair. Eighty-five per cent of their approved expenditure in carrying out these responsibilities is met by the Secretary of State. All other costs are borne by the local education authority.

(3) Section 114 Education Act, 1944. (See Appendix D).