Survey of local governors associations 2014 Thank you to the 30 local associations that took part in our survey. This represents just under half of the local associations who are in membership of National Governors Association (NGA). We last surveyed local associations in the autumn 2011 and reported the results to NGA s AGM that November and to the subsequent conference we held for local associations in April 2012. Since that time the number of local associations in NGA membership has declined from its high point of 76 to now 62. The majority of those leaving membership have ceased to exist, sometimes due to an inability to recruit active volunteers. Over the last two years there have been many changes, including in terms of school structures, the responsibilities of governors and the support available from local authorities. The survey was designed to help us understand how this multitude of changes have affected associations, and what the NGA can do to help support you in supporting your local schools. About associations 22 of the associations taking part in the survey have been in existence for 10 years or more. While none were brand new, four associations were no more than six years old. In a similar result to the last survey, it is only the occasional association (7%) that has more than 15 people on its executive committee, and 73% have between eight and 15 people. Membership 83% of associations said that retaining members has not become more difficult, or even got easier. However, four associations said that retaining members has become increasingly difficult over the last 12 months. These same associations reported a drop in membership. One other association also reported a drop in membership, but this is likely to be due to a change from the local authority (LA) paying for all schools to the schools being charged directly. Two associations reported that retaining members has got easier, and that their membership has increased. 63% of associations responding have more than 80% of schools in membership in their area, a slightly smaller proportion than last time. In 2011, over 40% of associations asked had just LA maintained schools in membership. In this year s survey, all but one association had both academies and LA maintained schools, and five had free schools as well as academies. NGA is pleased to see local associations supporting all types of school. Funding 90% of associations reported receiving support from their local authority; however in the four out of five associations getting support, this is through benefits in kind such as free meeting rooms or administration, rather than funding. The grants from local authorities ranged in value from 1,000 a year to 21,000, although most were no more than 10,000. Of the 22 associations that charge a subscription fee, just over a quarter collect the fees themselves, and nearly 60% have their fees collected by the LA. In 2011, there was a more even split between associations collecting money themselves and the LA collecting it for them. The remaining 14% have Page 1 of 6
Subscription fee ( ) another method of collection. Interestingly, one association had a combination of the two, and another received money from a headteacher association that schools join. The fees reported in the survey did not vary as much as in the 2011 survey. One association charges 2 per 50 pupils up to a maximum of 50, but the rest of the participants had fixed fees. While some associations have different rates for primary versus secondary schools, most did not. Most associations charged between 10 and 30 per governing body, with one other charging 55. The most common amount charged per annum was 30. The outlier in this question was an association that includes NGA governing body standard membership alongside their own membership, and charge a higher rate of 200 per school of which 60 is allocated to NGA and 140 to the local association. NGA is also aware of two other member associations who did not answer the survey who charge 58 and 70 per governing body. There doesn t seem to be a relationship between the amount charged in subscription and what proportion of schools are members (as shown on this graph, five represent 100% of schools in the area, four 80-99%, three 60-79%, 2two is 25-59%, and one fewer than 25% of schools in the area): 250 200 150 100 50 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 What proportion of schools are members? The NGA has been considering offering a fee collection service for local associations. We asked whether members would be interested in this. No one expressed a definite interest in the service, and just over 2/3 said they would not be interested. We asked for your comments, and many of respondents said they would not want to upset a good working relationship with the local authority, and that as it is working well, they could not see an advantage in the service currently. Local association services We asked the associations what services they provide to their members. The most common service to be provided was representation on LA committees and working parties, provided by all but one association that responded, followed by briefing sessions and a helpline/advice service. The least commonly provided services were a magazine and recruitment of governors for schools followed by a monthly newsletter. Page 2 of 6
Service Provided free Provided for a charge Representation on LA committees, working parties etc Number Percentage Number Percentage 28 97% 0 0% Briefing sessions 19 83% 0 0% Stand alone website 18 75% 0 0% Helpline or advice services 18 78% 0 0% Termly area meetings 16 67% 0 0% Annual conferences 15 63% 1 5% Recruitment of volunteers for the association 15 60% 0 0% Governor training 12 57% 1 5% Termly newsletter 11 44% 0 0% Page on the LA website 10 43% 0 0% Monthly newsletter 5 23% 0 0% Recruitment of governors for schools 4 19% 0 0% Governor magazine 4 19% 0 0% (Percentages don t add up to 100% because there was an option for not provided, which is not shown here.) The fewest services provided was just 2: representation and a termly newsletter. This association charges 18 with no additional support from the LA. The most services provided were 13. This association received running costs from the local authority. The average number of services provided was 6. Communications and improvements The most common method of communicating with members is via email, used by 86% of respondents, followed by a stand alone website (three out of five respondents). Of the associations that don t use email, all have either their own website or a page on the LA site. Use of social media remains low, with less than one in five using it, along with hard copies of information. However, all associations that send hard copies of information to members also use email. Associations taking part used on average 2-3 different communication methods. We asked associations what they thought they did well, and what they thought they would like to improve. All respondents felt they communicate well with their LA. The other things that associations feel confident about are discussions at meetings (84% think they do this well), conferences or specialist seminars (81%), and representing governor views to the local authority (75%). So how do associations know whether you re doing these things well? About 3/4 say they receive feedback that tells them how well you re doing or participation is increasing; a sign of good service. Page 3 of 6
What would you like to work on? More than nine out of ten associations want to improve how they recruit active governors for schools, just under nine in ten want to recruit more volunteers for the association, and seven in ten want to be better at gathering opinions from governors. In 2011, the areas that associations wanted to improve upon were recruiting active volunteers, networking, holding more meetings, and gathering governors views. 60% of participants identified things they d like to be able to do but can t. Some of these included: Offering forums Develop governor workshops across partnerships of schools Merge with a neighbouring associations that are struggling Meetings for headteachers and chairs of governors The main thing preventing these things from happening is a lack of time or capacity (4/5), but technology expertise and communication were also an issue, including getting people interested in meetings and the association. In the day to day running of an association, the same problems seem to feature, with lack of time/capacity and a lack of active members causing the most problems. The issues that are most commonly affecting the schools in your area included: Closing the attainment gap Ofsted inspections Improving attainment Recruiting senior leaders Local association meetings Just over half of the associations taking part have a formal partnership agreement with their local authority. All but one association meets their Director of Children s Services at least once a year, with nearly three quarters meeting at least three times each year. However, it was only a minority of associations that meet with headteacher groups (25%) and other teaching unions (15%). There were also reports of meeting with local school business managers. When asked to rate how good their working relationship is with different groups (from 1-5, with 5 being very good), we got very different answers. Relations with local authorities were by far the best, with an average rating of 4.5. Only one association rated it as 2, and 18 rated it as 5/5. Relationships with other education partners had an average rating of 3.1, headteacher groups 2.3, and other teaching unions had a very poor rating of 1.9. Eleven associations that responded don t hold an annual conference. Of the 16 associations that do, over 80% don t charge extra for it. Only a quarter of those holding a conference organise it alone; 63% worked with the LA, and 25% with other partners (two worked with both the LA and others). We also asked participants how frequently they hold briefing sessions (shown below). The majority of these meetings (56%) are well attended, with 20-50 people. Only two associations reported having an average attendance rate of over 75 people. Page 4 of 6
Number of sessions each year Responses 0-1 22% 2-3 44% 4-5 19% 6 or more 11% Don t know 4% All associations answering this question (28) said that they are asked by education partners to send representatives to meetings. Common groups included the schools forum (57%), safeguarding or children trust boards (28%), and admissions forums (11%). NGA services Overall, associations seem happy with the current support and representation from NGA, with the average rating of 4.4 out of 5. Only three associations rated the support as less than 4 out of 5. Service Average rating for importance Average rating for satisfaction Importance (annual membership survey 2013) Satisfaction (annual membership survey 2013) Governing Matters magazine Newsletter Website Bulletin board Welcome to Governance The Chair s Handbook Regional meetings and conferences National conferences /AGM Speakers at local events 4.3 4.5 3.9 4.2 4.6 4.7 3.8 4.0 4.5 4.4 3.9 3.9 4.0 4.3 3.3 3.6 3.8 4.2 3.6 3.9 3.8 4.0 3.7 4.0 4.3 4.3 3.0 3.4 4.3 4.5 3.0 3.5 4.4 4.5 3.1 3.5 We asked the same questions of our wider membership each year, and local associations tend to be slightly more positive than others. Unsurprisingly, associations rate our willingness to send speakers free of charge to local events as more important than other members! And we fully intend to continue to do this. Page 5 of 6
One of the services we have been reviewing is the Bulletin Board. Just over half of associations in the survey either don t use it at all, or just read it themselves without passing it on. Only three associations (11%) use it as it is intended by passing it on to all the governors in the area or at least to their own membership. We have had feedback from our wider membership survey that some members are confused by the overlap with the newsletter. One of our ideas to revamp the Bulletin Board is to make it termly instead of monthly. Only a minority of one in four associations thought that this would be a good idea, in particular because it would be too long between them for short consultations, and it will become out of date. We therefore will only reduce the frequency of the Bulletin Board once there are other ways of making sure associations are aware of consultations as soon as possible. Suggestions for future work for NGA More on SEN Importance of local governor associations both to government and to governors Separate reviews of governance from pupil premium Promote governance training for heads National funding formula Protocol for dealing with heads who do not share information Encourage employers to allow time off Future event workshops: Design and analysis of surveys Social media for associations Networking for associations Laura Owen, May 2014 Communications and Marketing Officer Page 6 of 6