FE Governance

Minutes of the Meeting

Minutes provide a formal record of governing body proceedings and can be inspected by anyone who wishes to do so. In most cases the clerk prepares the minutes. Where the clerk is temporarily absent, a temporary clerk should be appointed but the principal cannot be the temporary clerk.

Minutes of the meeting should:

• record the names and positions of those attending
• note the times of arrival and departure
• record declarations of interest
• record the outcomes of discussions, including a summary of the main relevant
• factors record all formal decisions and votes
• record dissent from a majority decision if appropriate
• list agreed action and the person responsible
• contributors are not normally named, unless specifically requested
• be comprehensible to someone who was not at the meeting
• note the documents in support of items.

Confidential items should be minuted separately. If the student or staff governor or the clerk were required to leave the meeting during discussion of a confidential matter, those individuals are not entitled to see the confidential minute.
The clerk prepares the minutes and forwards them to the chair and members of the senior management team for clearance.

Alterations to the meaning of the draft minutes must be agreed by the clerk and the chair. If the clerk does not agree the proposed change the matter must be raised at the next governors meeting. Once cleared by the chair, they should be labeled draft or unconfirmed. At this point the minutes are in the public domain and can be circulated to the governors, or sent later with the papers for the next meeting. The draft meetings are presented to the next governors meeting to agree their accuracy.

Any proposed changes to the minutes are subject to the agreement of the majority of governors present at a quorate meeting, however, these amendments cannot change decisions. Once a matter has been decided at a meeting, it cannot be changed at a subsequent meeting, unless it becomes a specific item of business on the agenda for that meeting.

Any amendments are usually handwritten on the official copy and then signed by the chair. The minutes of the current meeting should record amendments made to the minutes of the previous meeting. Minutes, separate appendices and confidential minutes must be signed and dated by the chair.