30 August 2018
How often should the trustees of an academy trust meet? There is no right or wrong answer to this, and the number of meetings will vary considerably between trusts of different sizes and complexities.
There is a minimum number of meetings, however, and the Academies Financial Handbook (AFH) requires every full board to meet at least three times a year. Academy trust articles will also include a minimum number of meetings and this will usually also be three but it is worth checking to ensure this is the case.
The new AFH, effective from 1 September 2018, introduced a more detailed requirement. In summary, the board and its' committees must meet regularly enough to discharge their responsibilities and ensure robust governance and effective financial management arrangements.
Whilst three meeting is the absolute minimum, the AFH makes it clear that the ESFA expect larger trusts to meet more regularly, and it is not uncommon for trusts to hold six half-termly meetings across the academic year. Larger multi-academy trusts, or those with complex issues to discuss, may meet more often than this.
The new requirement means that if your trust opts to hold less than six full board meetings in any year, it will be necessary to include an explanation of how effective oversight of funds has been maintained with fewer meetings, in the governance statement that forms part of the annual report and financial statements.
We would therefore strongly recommend that all trustees reconsider the frequency of their trust’s board meetings and ensure they are comfortable that the number held does enable them to fulfil their obligations. If a decision is made to proceed into 2018/19 with less than six meetings, we recommend that the reasons why you believe this is sufficient are documented in the first meeting of the year, and that this is revisited again at the final meeting towards the end of the academic year, to ensure the initial conclusions remain valid.
If you have any questions over the requirements for academy trust boards, or indeed any other governance matters, then please contact your local UHY academy specialist or visit our contact us page.
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