A council scrutiny committee has yet to appoint two parent governors eight months after it was agreed that they should have a seat at the table.
The People Overview and Scrutiny Committee was one of two scrutiny committees that were set up when Brighton and Hove City Council switched to running the council by cabinet rather than decision-making committees.
The decision-making committees were scrapped last May when the council also set up the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The council is required to have at least one scrutiny committee by law to review or scrutinise cabinet decisions, produce reports and make recommendations.
The People Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s terms of reference say that the members should include two parent governors.
But one parent governor said that there did not appear to have been any attempt to advertise or fill the post since changes had been made to the way that the council was run.
This was despite the cabinet wanting to make significant changes to school admissions policies and intakes.
Labour councillor Jackie O’Quinn, who chairs the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said:
“It is important our overview and scrutiny committees include insight and expertise from a range of people and our team at the council is working to encourage representation from parent governors.
“We have taken some time to finalise exactly how that looks but the process to identify potential parent governor representatives is under way and nomination papers will now be sent to all parent governors in the city.
“The successful representatives will then receive an induction. We hope to have them in place for the next People Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 18 March.
“I would encourage any of our fantastic local parent governors to put their names forward when they receive the nomination forms or contact us to find out more about these important roles.”
Councillors and co-opted members of the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee spent more than two hours discussing the proposed changes to secondary school admissions last Tuesday (14 January).
The council is carrying out a consultation which is due to finish on Friday 31 January.
It asks for people’s opinions on a proposal to reduce admission numbers at three schools, changing catchment area boundaries for Varndean,
Dorothy Stringer and Longhill and creating an “open admissions” system.
The concerned governor, who feared repercussions if named, said:
“It’s so poor they have not started this recruitment given they are consulting on such a major change to school admissions impacting families.”
More than 1,500 people have responded to the consultation so far. To view it or comment, go to the Your Voice section of the council’s website.
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