Local Academy Councils

Each Local Academy Council is made of up of nine representatives who meet formally at least half termly and report to the Trust.

The minimum membership number is set at 5 by the Trust. The maximum number is 9. The Trust has the powers to change this number or amend representation dependent on the needs of the school.

Currently the breakdown of categories set out in the Terms of Reference is

Up to 2 parent representatives
1 Headteacher
Up to 2 staff representatives (ideally 1 teaching and 1 non-teaching)
Up to 4 other members as appointed by the Trust

The Local Academy Councils work to the Trust’s Scheme of Delegation which outlines their powers and relationship with the Trust and its other employees

The Local Academy Councils must take due regard of staff and parental consultations for improvement within their settings

The Local Academy Council and the Headteacher are specifically charged with the following key areas of responsibility and therefore should ensure a monitoring regime is in place:

Keeping the school educationally sound and safeguarding all pupils;
Ensuring all pupil groups, whatever their social or ethnic diversity, receive at least a good standard of education and are prepared for their next stage of education or life;
Being aware of their allocated school budget and offer advice on spends within their area of delegation;
Complying with all legal and mandatory duties on schools conferred to the Headteacher by duty of their post;
Taking due regard of the Trust ethos and vision & values and working in partnership with other settings within and outside the Trust;
Providing school related and education reports as required to the Trust and other statutory agencies;
Supporting and complying with all Trust regulatory duties e.g. health and safety visits;
Taking note of all Advice Notes from the Trust relating to improvements or actions as directed;

One further key area of responsibility for the Local Academy Council is as advocates for the growth of or improvements to the school:

Undertaking analysis of need within their school and providing evidenced business cases to the Trust central team on any requests for additional funding outside of the school’s delegated budget, in line with the Trust budget and financial planning policies.