It is important that governors and staff not only act impartially, but are also seen to act impartially. The governing board and school staff have a responsibility to avoid any conflict between their business and personal interests and affairs and those of the school. There is a legal duty on all governors to declare an interest likely to lead to questions of bias when considering any item of business at a meeting and for the governor concerned to withdraw, if necessary, whilst the matter is considered.
To help put this duty into practice, a governing board is required to establish and maintain a register of pecuniary interests indicating, for all governors and the headteacher, any business interests. The school should keep a copy of each governor's individual register as they must be available on request for inspection, by the local authority, governors, staff and parents. The registers will also be inspected by the auditors when carrying out during routine audit visits at the school.
Examples of business or pecuniary interests that should be recorded include:
A relative can include:
If a governor has no interests to declare they should record it on the form and sign and date it. If a governor is in any doubt about whether or not to declare an interest it is recommended that they should.
More help like this can be found in Part 4 and Schedule 1 of The School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances)England) Regulations 2013.
This page was last updated on 22 February 2023