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 make sure 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