Written question asked by Lindsay Hoyle (Labour) on Thursday, 2 July 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 July 2009. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Thursday, 9 July 2009 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Schools: Governing Bodies

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on taking account of the level of financial experience of applicants for school governor posts; and what information his Department holds on local authority provision of training in financial management for school governors.

Answer: The Department has issued no guidance on taking account of the level of financial experience of applicants for school governor posts.The Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) was introduced in May 2004 which was intended to help schools in evaluating the quality of their financial management and to aid in training staff to become better financial managers. As part of the FMSiS accreditation process, LA assessors must evaluate governors' financial management competencies to establish training needs.We do not collect data on the provision of local authority training in financial management, however the Department has contributed by making training funds in the region of £200,000 available to all LAs each year since FMSiS was implemented. These funds are specifically used to train school staff and governors in the successful implementation of the standard.

Secondary information