Governance investigation welcomed, but caution is urged about salary idea

Chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw unveiled the plans during his monthly commentary – a new initiative he is using to comment on key issues in education.

In a seven-page essay, he raises the question of whether the chair and vice-chair of governing bodies should be paid in a bid to attract more capable professionals to the role.

He is concerned that last year there were nearly 500 schools where inspectors were “so concerned about the performance of the governing board that they called for outside experts to be drafted in to carry out an urgent external review of governance”.

He continued: “When leadership and management of a school are judged to be ineffective, entrenched weak governance is invariably one of the underlying reasons. Time and again in these cases, inspectors come across the same type of issues.”