Chapter 19.      Trust Schools - Download this file

19   TRUST SCHOOLS

CHAPTER SUMMARY

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 puts in place the statutory framework for schools to become Trust schools. Trust schools are not a new or different category of school, but are foundation schools supported by a charitable foundation or Trust. The aim is to bring in the experience, energy and expertise from partners in order to strengthen the leadership and governance of schools, to raise standards and strengthen collaboration. 

This chapter gives a brief description of the statutory processes underpinning Trust schools and the duties and requirements of those Trusts. However, it is not a comprehensive guide. Governors of community and voluntary schools must have regard to the statutory guidance in Changing School Category to Foundation –       A Guide for Governing Bodies. Governing bodies must also have regard to the statutory guidance in Trust School Proposals: A Guide for Local Authorities and Governing Bodies.

A toolkit for aspiring Trust schools is produced by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and is available on the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) website.

WHAT IS A TRUST SCHOOL?

1.            A Trust school is defined as a foundation school with a foundation acquired under the provisions of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Foundations are defined in Section 21 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. The statutory purpose of a foundation is to hold land on trust for one or more schools. It may also appoint foundation governors to those schools where the school’s instrument of government so provides.

2.            A Trust school, as a foundation school, will set its own admissions arrangements, have control over its land and buildings and employ its own staff.

3.            A Trust school operates within the same frameworks as other maintained schools: it will teach the national curriculum, follow the School Admissions Code, employ teaching staff under the terms of the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document and be inspected by Ofsted. The Local Authority (LA) will fund the school on the same basis as all other LA schools and will retain its intervention powers if there are problems at the school.

4.            There is no single blueprint for how Trust schools will work. Trusts can involve one or more partners and can support an individual school or groups of two or more schools. Acquiring a Trust is a way for schools to raise standards through strengthening collaboration and drawing on the expertise and energy of their partners to support their strategic leadership. It is for each school’s governing body to decide whether to adopt Trust status and, if they do, to decide who they want to work with – and how – in order to support the school’s particular needs and aspirations.

5.            The governing body of a Trust school (which retains parents, staff, community and LA governors) remains responsible for all major decisions about the school and its future. However, Trust schools benefit from a long-term relationship with external partners and their involvement in the school’s governance and leadership. The skills and experience of Trust-appointed governors will strengthen the whole governing body and make a contribution to the school’s ethos.

ACQUISITION OF A TRUST/ACQUIRING A MAJORITY OF FOUNDATION GOVERNORS

6.            The Education and Inspections Act 2006 introduced a statutory process for schools that wish to become Trust schools by acquiring a Trust, and defined particular characteristics required of such Trusts. It also provides that governing bodies, having completed a statutory process, may have an instrument of government that allows for the Trust to appoint a majority of governors to the governing body (otherwise the Trust will appoint a minority of the governing body).

7.            Governing bodies of existing foundation schools that wish to acquire a Trust, or provide for their Trust to appoint a majority of the governing body, must follow a statutory process outlined below. The governing bodies of other types of school will also need to publish proposals to change category to foundation (see chapter 18) but these statutory processes may all be run concurrently. Full guidance on these processes can be found on the DCSF website and in the Trust schools’ toolkit on the SSAT website.

8.            The governing bodies of foundation or voluntary schools which already have a foundation may not publish proposals to substitute it for a different foundation or acquire a second foundation/Trust. They cannot therefore formally join a group of schools who wish to acquire a different, shared Trust but they may still collaborate.

9.             Voluntary schools already have a foundation which appoints governors and holds land on trust – they would not lose or change their foundation by becoming a Trust school, although in some circumstances the foundation might need to be reconstituted in order to meet the requirements for Trusts. The governing body of any voluntary school would need to seek the agreement of the school’s existing trustees, and of anyone other than the trustees entitled to appoint foundation governors, before changing category.

10.          No school can acquire, lose or change its religious character through the acquisition of a Trust or through a change of category. A voluntary school which has a religious character (“faith” schools) would retain this as a Trust school.

The statutory process

11.        The process by which a governing body may acquire a Trust is given below.

i)          The governing body considers the acquisition of a Trust, and/or the acquisition of a foundation majority; initiation of statutory process.

ii)         The governing body undertakes a period of statutory consultation on the plans.

iii)         The governing body publishes proposals (having obtained consent where required).

iv)        Statutory four-week period for representations (including opportunity for the LA to refer proposals to the Schools Adjudicator).

v)         Proposals are determined by the decision-maker (usually the governing body; the Adjudicator if the LA has referred proposals during the period for representations).

vi)        Implementation.

Additional points to note

12.           The School Organisation (Prescribed Alterations to Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2007 specify both the information to be contained in proposals and the procedures for publishing proposals.

13.          The duration of the governing body’s consultation is not specified. However, the governing body must comply with the regulations and must have regard to statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

14.          The governing bodies of voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools, where the school already has a foundation, will require the consent of trustees or whoever appoints foundation governors before publishing proposals to change category to foundation.

Foundation schools which acquired foundations before 25 May 2007 will require the consent of their existing trustees or whoever appoints foundation governors before publishing proposals to allow the Trust (foundation) to appoint a majority of the governing body.

15.          LAs may, having regard to statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State in Trust School Proposals: A Guide for Local Authorities and Governing Bodies, refer proposals to acquire a Trust or allow a Trust to appoint a majority of governors to the Schools Adjudicator for decision. Grounds for referral are given below.

·               Inadequate consultation, i.e. the governing body has failed to meet the requirements set out in The Education and Inspections Act 2006 and the associated regulations.

·               The governing body has failed to have regard to responses to the consultation.

·               There is concern that the Trust will have a negative impact on standards.

16.          Whether the proposals are determined by the governing body or the Schools Adjudicator, the decision-maker must have regard to the statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families contained within the following documents:

·          Changing School Category to Foundation: A Guide for Governing Bodies;

·         Trust School Proposals: A Guide for Local Authorities and Governing Bodies.

17.         Governing bodies are under a duty to implement proposals that they have approved, or that have approved by the Schools Adjudicator (though modifications that do not constitute a significant change may be made). However, if circumstances change and it is difficult, or is no longer appropriate, to carry out approved proposals, governing bodies can publish new proposals which, if approved, would remove the duty to carry out the original proposals. 

18.         Trust schools which have a majority of governors appointed by the Trust must establish a Parent Council in accordance with the School Governance (Parent Councils) (England) Regulations 2007. (See chapter 20 of this Guide.)

TRUSTS – LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

19.              Legislation makes a number of requirements as to the form and function of Trusts and foundations. Trusts must be incorporated either as:

·               a company registered under the Companies Act 1985 as a company limited by shares or by guarantee;

or

·               a body incorporated by Royal Charter.

20.          All Trusts must be charitable and must have exclusively charitable objects, including the particular charitable object of advancing the education of all pupils at the school(s) for which the Trust acts as foundation. Trusts are also required by law to promote community cohesion.

21.          Certain categories of persons are disqualified from being trustees under the School Organisation (Requirements as to Foundations) (England) Regulations.This includes a person who has not obtained a criminal records certificate under Section 113A of the Police Act 1997 – this certificate may only be obtained from the Criminal Records Bureau.

22.          The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has the power to remove and replace individual trustees in certain prescribed circumstances. 

REMOVAL OF A TRUST/REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF FOUNDATION GOVERNORS

23.         Though a relationship with a Trust is designed to be lasting, a mechanism exists as a safeguard for the governing body of a school to remove the Trust or to alter the school’s instrument of government so that the Trust no longer appoints the majority of governors where they believe this would be in the best interests of the school. This applies only to Trust schools that have been established or have acquired their Trust under the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

The process

24.        The removal of a Trust/reduction in a Trust majority is a statutory process similar to that of Trust acquisition (publication of proposals, representations, and decision by the governing body). The School Organisation (Removal of Foundation, Reduction in Number of Foundation Governors and Ability of Foundations to Pay Debts) (England) Regulations specify both the information to be contained in proposals and the procedures for publishing proposals.

Points to note

25.         The Trust removal process may be triggered in two different ways depending on the constitution of the governing body.

i)             The governing body (or a committee of the governing body) may at any time decide to publish proposals to remove the Trust or move to a minority of foundation governors. If a majority of the governing body resolves to begin the statutory process, a period of statutory consultation must precede the publication of proposals.

ii)            As a safeguard, where the Trust appoints a majority of the governors, a minority of at least one-third of the governors can require the governing body to publish proposals to remove the Trust or to move to a minority of foundation governors. 

26.          However, since the Trust removal process should not be initiated constantly, there are some restrictions. The governing body is not obliged to publish proposals to remove the Trust or reduce the number of governors appointed by the Trust in response to a request from a minority of governors

a)           at any time within five years beginning with the date of implementation of the most recent proposals for:

– the establishment of the school

– a change of category to foundation or foundation special school

– the acquisition of a Trust

– the acquisition of a majority of governors appointed by the Trust;

or

b)           at any time within five years after the rejection of proposals, published by the governing body in response to a request by a minority of governors, to remove the Trust or reduce the number of governors appointed by the Trust.

27.         There are different arrangements for the decision-making, depending on how the process is triggered:

i)          If the majority of governors voted to publish proposals, then they may be determined by a majority vote of those governors present and voting.

ii)         If the governing body was required to publish proposals by a minority (of one-third or more) of the governors, then unless more than two-thirds of the governors vote in favour of retaining the Trust/Trust majority, the proposals will be approved and the Trust/Trust majority will be removed.

28.       Proposals to remove the Trust or to reduce the number of foundation governors are always determined by the governing body. There is a period for representations during which any person may object to the proposals (six weeks from the date of their publication). However, unlike the process to acquire a Trust, there is no power of referral to the School Adjudicator.

29.       When a Trust is removed, the school becomes a foundation school without a foundation.

THE LAW

N.B. As legislation is often amended and Regulations introduced, the references made in this Guide may be to legislation that has been superseded. For an up-to-date list of legislation applying to schools, please refer to the GovernorNet website, www.governornet.co.uk

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 Sections 18–22; 24–27; 33–34; and Schedule 2

The School Organisation (Establishment and Discontinuance of Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2007

The School Organisation (Prescribed Alterations to Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2007

The School Organisation (Requirements as to Foundations) (England) Regulations 2007

The School Organisation (Foundation Special Schools) (Application of Provisions Relating to Foundations) (England) Regulations 2007

The School Organisation (Removal of Foundation, Reduction in Number of Foundation Governors and Ability of Foundations to Pay Debts) (England) Regulations

The School Governance (Parent Councils) (England) Regulations 2007