Minutes of Governors meeting

[Pissedoffatschool]

I wondered whether secondary schools have to supply minutes of Governors meetings if requested? I want to see them due to a proposed change in admission criteria.

School is now an academy.

Anyone with experience of this?

You are entitled to see the minutes once they are signed. In general that means you won't be able to see the minutes of a meeting until after the next meeting. You would need to make a Freedom of Information request. There may be a small fee for supplying the minutes, e.g. to cover the cost of photocopying.

Thank you!

No, you should be able to inspect minutes once signed as prh says, as they should be held in school as the 'public inspection' copy. Other supporting docs may require FOI request.

The minutes, agendas and supporting papers should be made available as soon as "reasonably practicable" according to the Information Commissioner's Office. This can be before anything is signed as a true record. You can therefore ask to see the Agenda and supporting papers which may have been discussed at the meeting. Also, an admission policy must be available to the public so if it has been changed, you can see the new policy. Have a look at the IC's website for information on what a school is obliged to make available. The minutes do not have to be signed, but Governing Bodies will try and insist they are. You could also ask the parent governors for information on a change of policy. This information is not confidential and should be openly available.

Regulation 13 of the School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations 2003 states that the governors must make the signed minutes of every meeting availably as soon as reasonably practicable. There is no requirement to make unsigned minutes available. Before they are signed they are technically only draft minutes and therefore do not have to be provided in response to FoI requests. The ICO guidance on this is not as clear as it should be.