Members

In common with all other academy trusts in England, KMAT has members who have a similar role to shareholders of a company limited by shares. However, because KMAT is a charity, members’ focus is on whether the Board of Trustees are doing a good job of directing the activities of the Trust and checking the educational outcomes of the academies in the trust are good enough rather than on profit. Members are not trustees and they do not get involved in the day to day to running of the trust.

What members do

The powers of members, acting as a group, are:

• to amend the articles of association subject to any restrictions created by the funding agreement or charity law
• to appoint new members or remove existing members
• to appoint and remove trustees in certain circumstances
• to issue direction, by special resolution, to the trustees to take a specific action
• appoint the trust's auditors and receive the audited annual accounts (subject to the Companies Act)
• to change the company's name and, ultimately, wind it up.

No individual member acting alone can do any of the above. 

How many members does KMAT have?

We currently have four members. Every academy trust must have at least three members but the Department for Education has a strong preference is that trusts should have at least five members. We agree with that view because having more members provides for a more diverse range of perspectives and ensures members can take decisions via special resolution without requiring unanimity. Whenever we have fewer than five members, we actively seek to appoint new member(s) to take us back to at least that number.

Working with the trustees

As responsibility to conduct the trust's business sits with the trustees, members should be 'eyes on and hands off' and avoid compromising the board's discretion.

However if the governance of the trust by the board of trustees becomes dysfunctional our members will have a strong interest in ensuring the board has plans to address the issues or otherwise to remove the board or individual trustees and re-appoint trustees with the skills necessary for effective governance.

Appointing new members

When we have a vacancy, we place an advert on the Vacancies section of the trust website or use recruitment specialists to assist us. We recruit new members against a skills analysis and competency matrix to ensure that our members have the right balance of knowledge, skills and experience to add value to the work of the trust.

If your interested in becoming a Member then please contact enquires@KMAT.org.uk