Governance
Our Members and a Board of Trustees, with Garret Fay as our Chief Executive Officer, lead the Trust.
The Members play a crucial but limited role in ensuring the governance of the Trust is effective. They have a duty to exercise their powers to further the Trust’s charitable objective ‘to advance for the public benefit education in the United Kingdom’, which includes the power to appoint and remove Trustees.
The Board of Trustees
The Trustees are the accountable body and determines which functions it delegates to each school’s Local Governing Body. The Trustees are both charity trustees and company directors and focus on three core functions:
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ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
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holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its students, and the performance management of staff
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overseeing and ensuring effective financial performance.
The Trustees apply the highest standards of conduct and ensure robust governance, as these are critical for effective educational and financial management.
They provide effective governance through:
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strategic leadership that sets and champions vision, ethos and strategy
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accountability that drives up educational standards and financial performance
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people with the right skills, experience, qualities and capacity
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structures that reinforce clearly defined roles and responsibilities
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compliance with statutory and contractual requirements
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evaluation of governance to monitor and improve its quality and impact.
To comply with the Trust’s charitable objects, with company and charity law, and with their contractual obligations under the funding agreement. Trustees as company directors:
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act within their powers
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promote the success of the company
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exercise independent judgement
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exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence
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avoid conflicts of interest
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do not accept benefits from third parties
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declare interest in any proposed transactions or arrangements.
As an employer, the Trust has a range of wider obligations including compliance with employment law and health and safety.
The Trustees ensure regularity and propriety in the use of the Trust’s funds, and achieve economy, efficiency and effectiveness – the three elements of value for money. The Trustees also take ownership of the Trust’s financial sustainability and its ability to operate as a going concern.
In line with DfE recommendations, Insignis Academy Trust has a committee responsible for audit, finance and risk. This advises the board on the adequacy of the Trust’s internal control framework, including financial and non-financial controls and risk management arrangements, to direct a program of internal scrutiny and to consider the results and quality of external audit.
