Governance

The Bridgwater & Taunton College Trust is a Multi Academy Trust sent up by the Secretary of State for Education as a company (no. 08098956) and a charity.

It is therefore subject both to company and charity law.  It has a Memorandum of Understanding and Articles of Association which govern how the Trust runs.  The three Members of the Company are historically the Chair of Governors, Principal/CEO and Vice Principal of the sponsor, Bridgwater and Taunton College Trust.  The Trust is run by the Board of Directors of the company who are also trustees of the charity.  We call our Board Directors Trustees.  Our Articles provide that the Members can appoint up to 20 Independent Trustees; the Trust Leader of the Trust is also a Trustee.  Additionally we are required to have two Parent Governor Trustees.

We are also required to have an Accounting Officer/Executive Leader under the Academies Financial Handbook. These positions are occupied by our Trust Leader, Peter Elliott.  Our Chief Financial Officer is Nicola Mould, again a post required under the Academies Financial Handbook.

What is governance and why is it important?

 The need for governance exists anytime a group of people come together to accomplish an end. And what can be more important than the education of children and young people? The governance literature proposes several definitions, but most rest on three dimensions: authority, decision-making and accountability. We adopt the working definition of the Canadian Institute on Governance which has the following dimensions:

• Who has power?

• Who makes decisions?

• How do other players make their voices heard?

• How is account rendered?

England has one of the most autonomous education systems in the world. In an era of diminishing centralisation, of increased institutional autonomy, governance is essential. Those responsible for governance must ensure that corporately the board is effective, accountable, and ethical.

These three principles underpin the domains and elements of governance in our Trust. Ultimately the task of governance in our Trust is to advance education for public benefit. In doing so, the Trust Board must enact a sacred duty of holding trust on behalf of children. This is a task bigger than one person – bigger than the executive trust leader because we are all fallible – we all have moments of blindness alongside our capacity for insight. It is a task so important that it requires a group of people. The Trust Board.

Executive leaders hold their authority, power, legitimacy, and ability to make decisions because these are delegated by the Trust Board. And their first line of accountability is to the Trust Board. The Trust Board draws its legitimacy from its contract with the Secretary of State in the form of the Funding Agreement. The task of governance is set out in the Trust’s governance document, the Articles of Association. Both the Board and the Accounting Officer exist in complex systems of accountability.

Contact the Trustees
Clerk to the Trustees - Greg Jones
clerk@btc-trust.org