DfE pulls funding for governor recruitment service

The Department of Education (DfE) has announced they will no longer provide funding for Inspiring Governance, a governor and trustee recruitment service.

The National Governance Association (NGA) has released an open letter to Secretary of State Gillian Keegan calling the choice "nothing short of a disgrace."

The scheme connects volunteers who are interested in serving as school governors with schools in England.

NGA said Inspiring Governance has helped recruit 8,000 school governors and trustees since it launched with Department for Education funding back in 2016.

However, they also found in a 2022 survey that two-thirds of school or trust governing boards had at least one vacancy as the number of empty posts hit a six-year high.

Emma Knights and Emma Balchin, co-chief Executives at NGA, said in their letter that almost a quarter of a million citizens in England volunteer to govern state schools and academy trusts.

The letter added that the DfE is "no longer supporting in any way this enormous band of selfless people governing our schools and trusts."

The letter said: "NGA will of course continue to support governing boards, but the fact that your Government seems willing to overlook their contribution is nothing short of a disgrace."

The funding will end in September.