FAQ from Governors

A very Happy New Year from Governor Services!

EduBase Update

We continue to be asked a number of questions regarding EduBase and have provided this update together with some frequently asked questions and answers which will hopefully help all members of the Governing Board.

The Department for Education has confirmed that academy trusts and maintained school governing boards must provide the Secretary of State for Education with the details of all those involved in governance from September 2016.

For academies, EduBase will have been pre-populated with the information provided through the Education Funding Agency's Information Exchange; however, these entries will still require checking and updating where necessary.

For maintained schools, EduBase will not have been pre-populated. Therefore, information will need to be provided by governing boards to populate the fields. Details about the information to be collected can be found here.

Please note that EduBase is not replacing our Warwickshire Governor Services database, and we still require information from Clerks to enable us to keep our records up to date and to allow us to provide a high quality service to Warwickshire governors.

Q: Is it compulsory for governors to allow their information to be collected for the database?

A: The DfE press release says that from September 2016, academy trusts and governing boards are under a duty to provide the information required for inclusion in the national database. For academies, it explains:

From September 2016 the Academies Financial Handbook will require academy trusts to provide information about their members and trustees as well as (in the case of MATs) those sitting on any local governing boards that may be in place.

For maintained schools, it says that section 538 of the Education Act 1996 sets out the duty to provide the information required on EduBase from September 2016.

Q: Must the database include information on previous governors?

A: The required information includes information on individuals who have served as governors at any time in the 12 months before the requirement was introduced.

Q: Must the head teacher’s details be submitted?

A: All those involved in the governance of the school, including those who are employed at the school, should have their details submitted.

Q: How do we get access to EduBase?

A: Clerks and Governors do not have access to EduBase. 

EduBase is accessed via the school’s secure access account therefore someone within the school’s office (Business Manager, Administrator) will have the log in details and the overall responsibility for keeping it up to date.  Clerks / Chairs can assist this person by ensuring that the governing / trustees board information is always kept up to date and shared as appropriate.

Q: What can we do if a governor does not want to be included on the database?

A:  As this is a legal requirement for maintained schools and academies, it is not possible for an individual to 'opt out'.  It is being suggested to governors that including this requirement in a governing board code of conduct, and making sure it is also covered in any induction programmes will mean both new and existing governors and trustees will understand the requirement and how it relates to them. 

If a governor or trustee remains resistant to the idea of having this information held on the database, it may be necessary for the Governing Board to reconsider his or her suitability for the public role of governor or trustee.

Q: Do we have to keep the information up to date?

A: Yes! 

Academies

Paragraph 4.7.4 of the 2016 Academies Financial Handbook says that an academy trust must notify the DfE of the appointment to or vacating of the positions of:

• Member, trustee and local governor
• Chair of trustees and chair of local governing board, accounting officer and chief financial officer

The notification must be made within 14 days of any change by completing all the specified fields on the governance section of EduBase.

Maintained schools

The DfE says that a maintained school's information must also be kept up to date when those involved in governance change. 

The DfE will update the Governance Handbook to reflect the new requirement