governance good practice guide

background and current context

This section is about the background and context of further education (FE) college governance.

FE and sixth form colleges were incorporated in 1993 and since then governance in colleges has operated under the primary enabling legislation of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.

In 2000 the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was established to replace the former Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) and the Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). The Learning and Skills Act 2000 came into force as additional primary legislation.

In 2006, the Education Act was updated, with issues relating to the Education and Inspections Bill being debated in parliament.

The governing board's powers, membership, role and responsibilities are set down in the Instrument and Articles of Government (I&A).

The I&A are supplemented by the LSC's Financial Memorandum (FM) and Audit Code of Practice (ACP), as well as circulars and guidance, general law relating to employment, equality and diversity, health and safety.

The LSC's revised Financial Memorandum came into effect on 1st August 2006 and the Audit Code of Practice was finalised in 2005.

The I&A, FM and the ACP are the key documents for those involved in FE governance.

These documents are supplemented by circulars from the LSC and guidance from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), and all of a governing board's own individual rules and procedures - its Standing Orders - must defer to them.

As an overview of its role, an FE governing board is similar to a board of non-executive directors and is made up of members from the business and local community, local authorities, stakeholders, partners, staff and students, and - where appropriate - parents.

The principal may be an ex-officio member of the governing board if he or she so wishes and is the only executive member. It is extremely unusual for the principal not to choose to be a member of the governing board.

The governing board has a fiduciary duty; with accountability for the use of public funds and a duty of care for the assets of the college. The principal is the college's accounting officer and - alongside accounting officers of the LSC and DfES - reports to Parliament on matters relating to the use of public and college funds.

The governing board is advised and supported by a clerk, who is independent of college management and has access to independent professional advice.

The White Paper: Further Education, Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances proposes a number of changes to the governance framework that aim to strengthen the role and profile of governing boards and promote self-regulation by:

• giving greater autonomy and flexibility to governing boards
• encouraging innovation, including collaboration with schools, other colleges and private training providers
• ensuring that provision is responsive and meets learner and employer needs.

This should be seen within the context of the following FE reform principles designed:

• to put the needs of learners at the heart of the system, so that their choices drive funding and performance management
• to create a new entitlement to free training and support for those young people and adults who most need it
• to create a new national strategy for raising the quality of teaching and learning, with robust intervention to tackle failing and mediocre provision, combined with more autonomy for the excellent
• to encourage innovation and, through competition, enable new providers to enter the market
• to ensure clarity of role between commissioners, colleges and providers and regulators
• to reduce bureaucracy and give greater freedom to the highest performing colleges and other providers.

The Foster Report recommends that the governing board's role should be strategic.

Click here for information on the Foster Report.

However, the governing board's focus on strategic issues may be affected by the LSC's responsibility for planning, its powers of intervention in colleges, and the requirements for governing boards to sign off certain key documents as well as DfES proposals in the revised Instrument and Articles.

Existing arrangements allow independent governing boards to collaborate as required. However, DfES and others are keen to review governance arrangements so that colleges can to enter into flexible partnerships, form consortia and trusts with other colleges, schools, higher education (HE) institutions and private providers.

The debate on governance and the right framework for FE into the future continues.

Click here for the DfES Review of Governance in FE.

Click here to view the FE reform landscape diagram.