Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on whether (a) people can be on the membership of more than one multi academy trust board and (b) the chair of a multi academy trust board should be allowed to chair more than one trust.

The department does not prohibit people from sitting on the trust board, and being chair, of more than one multi-academy trust (MAT) board. However, the board of trustees must ensure that the requirements for managing conflicts of interest are applied across the trust. The chair of the board of trustees and the accounting officer must ensure that their capacity to control and influence does not conflict with these requirements.

The department actively encourages individuals with either strong educational or financial skills to join additional MAT boards. Non-executive members are almost all unpaid volunteers and provide vital expertise to the schools system.