Written question asked by Gordon Marsden (Labour) on Friday, 9 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 13 December 2005. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Monday, 19 December 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Annual Parents Meeting

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons her Department decided to remove the obligation on governing bodies to hold an annual parents' meeting.

Answer: The purpose of the annual parents' meeting was to provide an opportunity for a discussion of the manner in which the school had been conducted, and of any other matters relating to the school raised by the parents. Many meetings were very poorly attended and, despite adopting various innovative strategies to improve turnout, it still proved difficult, in many schools, to generate enthusiasm for attending the meetings. The new school profile will give parents a broader and deeper understanding of what a school is doing. The removal of the requirement to hold an annual parents' meeting allows governors to manage their own relationship and communications with parents, to better reflect local circumstances, this may include choosing to hold a meeting.Removing the requirement to hold an annual parents' meeting also reduced the burden of legislative requirements on school governing bodies, granting greater freedom for school leadership to concentrate on continued improvements in performance.

Secondary information