We are delighted that the DfE have agreed to continue funding the service to support schools and academies for a further six months, but it is with much sadness that we must announce that DfE funding of the Inspiring Governance school governor recruitment service will come to an end on September 30th, 2024.
We are proud to have worked with the DfE who have funded the service since 2016. It has enabled us to help schools and academies across England appoint over 8,300 skilled volunteers to their governing boards from a wide range of supportive employers and professional associations.
We will continue to serve governor recruiters and volunteers right up until the end of September this year, so that you can continue to use the online platform to get the very best people for your governing boards before the service closes in its current form in the autumn.
DfE funding for the service was reduced by 45% from April 2021, and over the last three years we have increasingly cross-funded delivering the service from our own Education and Employers Charity’s reserves. Whilst this has enabled us to successfully meet our targets, this is no longer sustainable without continued DfE funding.
From October this could be the first time in 25 years that there is no funded support for schools to recruit diverse, skilled governors from business. We will continue to use the expertise we have gained over eight successful years of delivery to respectfully make the case to the DfE to continue to fund recruitment support for school and academy governing bodies.
We would like to thank every school, every academy, every diocese, every local authority, and all the committed governance professionals that have used our service to date. We would also like to thank all our School Governor Champion employers and our diverse, professional volunteers that have signed up to offer their considerable skills and commitment to help the next generation by serving on a strategic school or academy governing body.
We are particularly proud to have been able to help schools in the greatest need who don’t always have the connections to recruit highly skilled volunteers via their own local or parental networks.
While we explore possible options for the future of Inspiring Governance, please be assured that you can continue to use the service in its current form for the next 6 months. We remain absolutely committed to delivering the very best service possible for you, right until the very last day of our DfE contract.
We will continue to update registered users on more practical concerns by direct email in the coming weeks. However, if you have any immediate questions or concerns in the first instance, please contact enquiries@inspiringgovernance.org