Agenda item

To receive an update on the draft SACRE Terms of Reference and Consitituion, following a review.

The item provided an update on the proposed draft revised Terms of Reference and SACRE Constitution document, which was presented to SACRE members for their consideration. During the update the following was noted:

• The Briefing Report on (pages 9-11) detailed the main changes to the revised document.
• The revised document had been reviewed and approved by the Monitoring Officer, the intention was for the draft document to be presented to Full Council for approval in May, as part of a wider Constitution Review.
• A high-level overview was provided of the main changes to the document, which were as follows:

o   Additions to the composition of membership of SACRE section, such as Humanism.

o   Further detail on co-opted members.

o   An additional paragraph to include the terms of office for SACRE members.

o   Detailed roles and responsibilities list for the role of the SACRE Chair, Vice-Chair, Professional SACRE Advisor and the role of the responsible officer from Children’s and Young Peoples Services

o   Required contributions to the SACRE Annual Report.

o   Additional information on the voting procedures in SACRE, to ensure it complies with the relevant legislation.

o   Additional information on SACRE meetings, including the required number of SACRE meetings and the process for requesting additional SACRE meetings.

o   Additional information on the administration of SACRE including the role of the Governance Advisor, the details of the process for SACRE members to propose agenda items, the details of agenda setting meetings and distribution of agendas and minutes and additional information on disputes and complaints.

Following the update provided, discussions took place on the following points:

• In relation to member substitutes at SACRE meetings, the Terms of Reference did not explicitly state whether substitutes would be able to vote at meetings and members felt this may be a helpful addition. The Governance Advisor advised that they did not believe substitutes would have the ability to cast a vote, however this would be taken away as an action and a response provided to SACRE members on this matter via email, following the meeting.
• It was noted that in 3.16 of the documents, it stated that the local authority was required to provide sufficient funds and support for SACRE to perform its duties.
• It was noted that SACRE had struggled to secure funding from the local authority in the past. In a recent year Rotherham SACRE were told by the local authority that their funding drastically reduced, with no consultation with SACRE members on this matter. The SACRE were unable to complete their full statutory duties as a result of the funding reduction.
• The current funding to SACRE for the year 2024-2025 was six thousand pounds. The funding paid for the specialist RE Advisor to SACRE’s time and was at a good level for SACRE to carry out its statutory duties. SACRE also made money by charging schools who were not part of ROSIS for their attendance at Lat Blaylock courses.
• Following clarifications in legislation, Humanism had been added to Group A of the membership composition within the document.

Actions- Rotherham SACRE agreed that:

·       The Governance Advisor would seek advice on the point raised relating to substitutes and voting rights. Once confirmed the response would be circulated to SACRE members via email.