Beamans Report - Effective School Governors

Summary

The requester asked the Cabinet Office to identify the specific school governing bodies described as 'notable exceptions' in the Beamans Report, following a referral from the Department of Education. The authority disclosed that Castle Rushen High School and Ballasalla Primary School were the two schools identified as effectively fulfilling their remit.

Key Facts

• The Beamans Report was commissioned by the Council of Ministers.
• The report stated that most governing boards in the Isle of Man do not fulfil their remit as defined in the Articles of Government.
• Beamans Management Consultants identified Castle Rushen High School and Ballasalla Primary School as the 'notable exceptions'.
• The consultants clarified they did not audit every individual governing board or speak to every Chair of Governors.
• The response noted that other boards may also be effective but were not identified based on the evidence presented to the consultants.

Data Disclosed

• 5th October 2020
• 30th October 2020
• 5th November 2020
• 1501165
• 9 November 2020
• 23 November 2020
• 1550777
• page 53
• two schools
• one or two notable exceptions

Original Request

In answer to a FOI request made on 5th October 2020 to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture ("DESC"), following a holding response on 30th October 2020, a full response was sent on 5th November 2020 (reference 1501165). That request sought information relating to the recent Beamans report (Review of DESC Management and Governance Arrangements), including, with regard to school Governing Bodies, such information as was held by the DESC which identified those governing bodies described at page 53 of the Beamans report as "notable exceptions". To give context, the relevant part of Beamans reads, "There is no doubt that a governing board operating effectively can transform the running of a school. However, in an Isle of Man context, it has long been acknowledged that, with one or two notable exceptions, there are few governing boards that fulfil the remit as defined in the Articles of Government". The DESC response asserted that the DESC does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find this information, because it is not held by the Department. The response went on to say, by way of advice and assistance, that the Beamans report was commissioned by the Council of Ministers, and directed me to make a separate FOI request to the Cabinet Office; I now do so. Which Governing Bodies are the "notable exceptions"?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244 Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 1550777 23 November 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 9 November 2020 and which states:

"In answer to a FOI request made on 5th October 2020 to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture ("DESC"), following a holding response on 30th October 2020, a full response was sent on 5th November 2020 (reference 1501165). That request sought information relating to the recent Beamans report (Review of DESC Management and Governance Arrangements), including, with regard to school Governing Bodies, such information as was held by the DESC which identified those governing bodies described at page 53 of the Beamans report as "notable exceptions". To give context, the relevant part of Beamans reads, "There is no doubt that a governing board operating effectively can transform the running of a school. However, in an Isle of Man context, it has long been acknowledged that, with one or two notable exceptions, there are few governing boards that fulfil the remit as defined in the Articles of Government". The DESC response asserted that the DESC does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find this information, because it is not held by the Department. The response went on to say, by way of advice and assistance, that the Beamans report was commissioned by the Council of Ministers, and directed me to make a separate FOI request to the Cabinet Office; I now do so. Which Governing Bodies are the "notable exceptions"?"

Our response to your request is as follows: “Beamans Management Consultants can clarify the particular statement in our report which is the subject of the FOI. However, in providing that clarification it is important that our response is not taken out of context. To explain further: we did not audit or seek to judge the effectiveness of each individual Governing Board. Nor did we speak to every single Chair of Governors. However, all stakeholders – departmental, school and more widely, individual stakeholders including some MHKs, agreed that Governing Boards were not operating as effectively as intended. This finding was never disputed, indeed, many sought to argue that expecting Governing Boards to fulfil their intended remit was unachievable in an Isle of Man context (although as the report states we do not believe this be the case).

However, in examining this issue we did identify two schools – Castle Rushen High School and Ballasalla Primary School – where the Governing Boards were, on the evidence available to us, were fulfilling a remit in keeping with the schools’ Articles of Government. One important point to bear in mind: this does not mean that every other Governing Board is ineffective; there may well be others that also discharge their responsibilities effectively. However, these were the notable exceptions that we were referring to. No doubt some other Governing Boards may seek to argue that they are also fulfilling their remit as intended. This may well be the case. However, whilst there may well be others that could be added to the list of notable exceptions the fact remains that based on the evidence presented to us, the majority fall someway short of the mark.”
Please quote the reference number 1550777 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely