Bursar’s Review Autumn 2019.

Many schools combine the roles of bursar and clerk to the governors but some prefer to keep the roles separate. Colonel G R Pearce MBE , bursar at Pipers Corner School, discusses the benefits of one person doing both roles. Having considered my skills and experience when starting out as a bursar, the area in which I felt somewhat lacking was the clerk to the governors role and the significant responsibility of providing advice and guidance to the board. I embarked on a Master’s degree in Corporate Governance and have continued to be fascinated by this aspect of the role. An article summarising my study was published in the Spring 2019 issue of Bursar’s Review on page 21. In that article I provided some recommendations and remind readers of those here: Feature Further study led me to conclude that due to their dual role, bursars are in a unique position as company secretaries. It seems to me that there is an additional dimension brought to the board of governors when the bursar is also clerk to the governors. The ISBA guide (Dalton 2009, page 2) summarises the two roles as: ■ Bursar. Responsible to the governors and head for the conduct of the school’s financial affairs, business management, the estate, management of the site and day to day non-academic administration. ■ Clerk. To act as company secretary and together with the chairman and the head, to enable the board of governors to fulfil its duties and responsibilities for the proper governance of the school and to ensure that the board receives timely advice and appropriate information on all relevant matters. The bursar therefore has an in-depth understanding of the business; its challenges, priorities and ambition. He or she is fundamentally involved in the intricacies of operational delivery and, as clerk, is engaged in providing information, data, advice and guidance to the governing body. My view is that when acting in both capacities, the clerk’s role is enriched by the experience and understanding brought to it by the bursar. Definition of a company secretary The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ISCA, 2019) states on its website that the company secretary ‘is a strategic position of considerable influence at the heart of governance operations within an organisation’ and goes on to explain that the specific responsibilities may differ depending on the organisation, but the roles include: ■ guiding the chairman and board on their responsibilities under the rules and regulations to which they are subject and on how those responsibilities should be discharged (Cadbury, 1992); Autumn 2019 www.theisba.org.uk 10 Summary of recommendations Structure of meetings Ensure the agenda drives a focus on strategy and gives time for discussion Committee structure Use the committee process to make decisions at the right level and avoid everything going to the board Selection of people Care in the selection of the right people, with the right skills Implementation of policy Select the right policies for the governors to focus on and ensure the appropriate mechanisms are in place to demonstrate compliance in practice Nature and focus of briefings Don't over-face governors with detail, present data in the right format for strategic analysis Role of the clerk To prepare meetings in advance, craft agendas with the chair and provide effective management of meetings Training Keep governors up to date with changes in rules and regulations Trust Fundamental aspect of the governance model; trust between governors and of the senior leadership team Review Good practice to review meetings to ensure the separation of operations and strategy Thoughts on corporate governance