Cover options
One meeting. Properly prepared
An experienced clerk for a board, committee or panel.
up to 2½ hours
Three meetings a year is the statutory minimum for a maintained governing body, and most boards sit more often. Notice and the agenda go out seven clear days ahead. Quorum is checked before the meeting rather than discovered in the room, and the minute records what was decided and the basis for it, not a transcript of the discussion.
Terms of reference are checked against your scheme of delegation before the agenda is set, so a committee does not decide something it has no authority to decide. The minute records the delegation the committee acted under, which is the detail an auditor looks for and the one most often missing.
For an academy, the panel needs at least three people not involved in the matter, and at least one of them independent of the management and running of the school. We check that before the bundle goes out, and the bundle goes to every party at the same time. More on panel clerking.
On a permanent exclusion the governing board must meet to consider reinstatement within 15 school days of receiving notice. Written evidence and the list of those attending should reach all parties at least five school days ahead, and the outcome letter has to carry the parents’ right to apply for a review and the deadline that applies. The clocks that run.
Disciplinary, capability and grievance hearings and appeals. The order of proceedings, the handling of new evidence and the record of the reasons are the three things that get tested afterwards, so they are the three we keep clean.
Before
Chair briefing.
Papers, policies and open actions reviewed.
Papers provided at least three working days ahead.
During
Procedural support for the chair.
Decisions and responsibilities recorded.
Quorum, delegation and interests handled in the room.
After
Draft minutes and an action list within five working days.
Chair amendments included.
Panel deadlines agreed before booking.
Name, relevant experience and DBS check details shared before work begins.
One accountable person for your meeting, not a rotating pool. Enhanced DBS checks where the role requires them, professional indemnity and supplier information on request, and ICO registration as a data controller.
A maintained governing body must appoint a clerk, and an academy trust must appoint a governance professional to support the board who is not a trustee, principal or chief executive. Cover for that role is the whole of what we do.
- 01Share the date
- 02Confirm scope
- 03Secure payment
£350 to reserve. £150 after approval of draft minutes. Pay by card or bank, or ask us to invoice against your purchase order. Full refund if we cannot arrange suitable cover, and the remedy that applies if we miss a date.
per board, per year.
One board or committee meeting, your Board File and a named standby clerk.
Frequently asked questions
What if I need a clerk for an urgent date?
Tell us the date and we check availability the same working day. A meeting can be reserved online for £350 and we name your clerk within 24 hours of the reservation, or refund it in full. Short notice is not improvised: regulation 13 lets the chair direct shorter notice where matters demand urgent consideration, and we work to the timetable that follows from it.
Who issues the papers, you or us?
On a single meeting, you do, and we need them three working days ahead so your clerk arrives having read them. Book 14 days ahead, or take Annual Cover, and we issue the agenda and papers ourselves, which is why that arrangement needs them ten working days ahead: the pack has to reach the board seven clear days before it sits.
What if the meeting date or time changes?
Let us know as soon as you do. We re-agree the date and the scope, and the booking terms agreed for your meeting apply.
Who will actually turn up?
A named clerk. Their name, relevant experience and DBS check details are shared with you before work begins, and it stays that person.