Schools to get powers to sack incompetent governors

School bodies are set to be given new powers which would allow them to sack maverick, corrupt and incompetent parent governors.

According to the BBC, head teachers have campaigned for the change, saying the "destructive actions" of rogue governors can stop schools in England running smoothly.

New Department for Education guidelines have now closed a loophole that stops elected governors being removed, even if they misbehave.

Some governors are elected by a local authority or the church and some are co-opted by the governing body itself. These members can be removed if they are found to be behaving in a way that is likely to bring the school, or governing body, into disrepute or in a way that is inconsistent with the ethos or religious character of a school.

However, others which are elected by parents or staff cannot at the moment be removed, even if there is evidence of misconduct.

The National Association of Head Teachers has been pushing for this to be changed to allow disruptive members to be removed from the board, and it is now set to come into force this September.

Gillian Allcroft, deputy chief executive of the National Governance Association, said: "The vast majority of elected governors (parents and staff) do a great job for their schools and this is one of the reasons why NGA campaigned very strongly for the retention of elected parent governors.

"We supported this change in order to provide a mechanism for governing bodies to deal with individuals who are adversely affecting effective governance, but we also said that boards need clear guidance on when it is appropriate to use these powers."