Statutory

Non-Statutory

Payment of

Governors’ Allowances and Expenses

Date: October 2012

Review: February 2013

Review: July 2015

NORTHGATE SCHOOL ARTS COLLEGE

Payment of Governors’ Allowances and Expenses

Purpose

The governing body plays a key role in the leadership and management of the Academy Trust. We value governors’ contribution and that they give their time voluntarily and individual governors should not be deterred from playing their full part because of incidental costs.

Equality impact

This policy statement has been developed in accordance with the Education (Governors’ Allowances) Regulations 2003. These regulations give Governing Bodies the discretion to pay allowances from the school’s annual budget for certain expenditure which they incur whilst carrying out their duties. NSAC Governing Body believes that paying governors’ allowances, in specific categories as set out below, is important in ensuring equality of opportunity to serve as governors for all members of the community and so is an appropriate use of school funds. The specific items allowable reflect this objective.

From 1st April 2013, all governors of Northgate School Arts College will be entitled to claim the actual costs, which they incur as follows:

Roles and responsibilities of governors

Governors will be able to claim allowances providing the allowances are incurred in carrying out their duties, as a governor or representative of the school, and are agreed by the Business Committee that they are justified before any reimbursable costs are incurred.

·  Childcare or babysitting allowances (excluding payments to a current/former spouse or partner);

·  Cost of care arrangements for an elderly or dependent relative (excluding payments to a current/former spouse or partner);

·  The extra costs they incur in performing their duties either because they have special needs or because English is not their first language;

·  The cost of travel relating only to duties agreed in fulfilment of their roles in line with the Terms of Reference (ER) for FGB and Committees;

·  Travel and subsistence costs actually incurred for attending external meetings or training events, unless these costs can be claimed by any other source;

·  Telephone charges, printing, stationery, postage, etc;

·  Any other justifiable allowances;

·  All claims to be made quarterly and within one month of the end of the financial year.

The Governing Body acknowledges that:

·  Governors may not be paid attendance allowance;

·  Governors may not be reimbursed for loss of earnings.

Arrangements for monitoring and evaluation

Governors are encouraged to make claims under these arrangements. It is expected that advice is sought from the Chair of Governors before expense is incurred apart from regular travel for regular Governors meetings as defined with respect to the Terms of Reference. Claims should be made on the provided claim forms as soon as reasonably practical after the expense is incurred. (Appendix 1).

All allowance payments will be monitored and expenditure incurred monitored by the Business Committee. It is proposed that a provisional limit for such payments is set at £2,000 (is this sufficient?) per financial year in the first instance.

Claims will be subject to independent audit and may be investigated by the Chair of Governors (or Chair of ANO Committee in respect of the Chair of Governors) if they appear excessive or inconsistent.

This policy will be reviewed bi-annually.

NSAC/SW/July 2015/V3

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