§ Sir Irvine Patnickto ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what training courses for school governors are the statutory responsibilities of local education authorities; how many courses Sheffield education authority has held in the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [1707]
§ Mr. Robin SquireEach local education authority must by law make available free of charge to the governors of its schools any training it considers necessary for them to discharge their functions effectively. It is for each LEA to judge what is necessary. But most LEAs, including Sheffield, have appointed governor training co-ordinators to secure the availability of suitable training programmes. Figures on the number of training courses provided by LEAs are not held centrally. But since April 1992 Sheffield has offered governing bodies the opportunity to buy into an annual scheme including various forms of support and training.
In 1993–94 Sheffield provided 189 training events; in 1994–95, 158; and for the current year an anticipated total of 184.