To adopt the revised constitution of Herefordshire Schools Forum.

The constitution of the schools forum was last reviewed in 2012. It is good practice to undertake a regular review to ensure the constitution remains compliant with regulations, is clearly understood and reflects current working practices.

That:

(a)     the Herefordshire Schools Forum be reduced to 26 members by the removal of the vacant seat for the 14-19 partnership;

(b)     the seat currently allocated to the special schools’ governor representative be designated as a seat for academy special schools’ representative for future elections; and

(c)     the revised constitution of the Herefordshire Schools Forum and all appendices, as set out at appendix 1 to the report, be adopted.

1.       The current constitution of the Herefordshire Schools Forum could be retained. This is not recommended as the constitution is not reflective of current practice and would benefit from additional clarity.

2.       A seat could be retained for the 14-19 partnership and a suitable body identified to elect or appoint members to this seat. This is not recommended as there is no longer a requirement in regulations for such a seat and the 14-19 age group is already represented by secondary schools and post-16 providers.

3.       As Herefordshire includes two academy special schools, there is a requirement in regulations for a seat to be designated for an academy special school representative. The existing special school governor seat could be retained, with an additional seat created for an academy special school representative. This is not recommended as it would increase the size of the forum and there is no requirement in regulations for a special school governor seat. It would be for the academy special schools to determine whether they wished their representative to be a headteacher, governor or other senior member of school staff, such as a school finance manager.