What they are
In a multi-academy trust (MAT), the board of trustees may delegate some of its governance functions to local governing bodies (LGBs).
Trusts with any number of academies can have LGBs - they’re a key way for the board of trustees to:
- Get a local perspective/context from each academy
- Stay in the loop on what’s going on in their constituent academies
- Keep on top of everything the trust needs to monitor
- For example, it would be difficult for the board of trustees to monitor teaching and learning in detail for each school - having an LGB helps to ensure that someone's keeping an eye on it and is able to give a school-level perspective of what's going on
LGBs are important as they have a much more nuanced understanding of how their individual schools work and can provide invaluable insight to the board of trustees.
LGBs aren't technically governing boards - they're actually