Scheme of Delegation: What It Is, What to Include and a Trustee Checklist
A scheme of delegation sets out an academy trust's governance structure, the powers retained by its board and the functions delegated to committees and executives. The board approves financial delegations. The governance guide says the scheme should explain its review timeframe and triggers; the handbook says financial delegations should be reviewed annually and following relevant change.
What is a scheme of delegation?
Section 4.3.6 of the academy trust governance guide describes a document covering members, the board and committees, including local committees. It distinguishes powers retained at board level from delegated powers, and asks the scheme to explain how governance roles relate to executive leadership. Its review wording calls for a timeframe and triggers; it does not prescribe one universal annual review date for every governance function.
The financial scheme has a more specific provision. Academy Trust Handbook 2026, paragraph 2.4 requires board approval of a written delegation of financial powers with robust internal controls. It says this scheme should be reviewed annually and at the next available board meeting after management or organisational change affecting its effectiveness. The board cannot delegate overall responsibility for trust funds.
A single-academy trust still needs clarity between members, trustees, committees and its principal. A MAT additionally needs to describe each local committee's remit and relationship with central leadership. Section 4.3.5 of the academy guide recognises that a local committee can be advisory even where it has no delegated decision-making. A familiar title such as “local governing body” does not establish authority by itself. Use the actual arrangements, rather than assuming every school committee can approve the same matters.
Maintained schools and federations
The academy-specific handbook requirement does not apply to maintained schools or federations. A practical way to document their delegations is through committee terms of reference and a delegation planner; a school may also use the label “scheme of delegation”. The label does not place it under academy articles or create academy-style members and trustees. The maintained schools governance guide, sections 5.1, 5.2.2 and 5.5, describes their distinct constitution, committees and federation framework.
The School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regulations 2013, regulations 18–20, provide for delegation, restrictions and reporting. Regulation 18 permits delegation to a committee, an eligible governor or the headteacher within its conditions; regulations 19–20 qualify that power and require reporting. A maintained-school planner should reflect those rules and applicable staffing provisions, rather than copy the academy matrix below. The cited PDF is the original instrument; use current applicable regulations when approving a real delegation.
Copyable delegation matrix template
This matrix is an illustrative discussion template, not a model approved by DfE or a statement that these allocations suit every trust. Each trust's articles, funding agreement, handbook duties and applicable statutory rules take priority. “No routine role” means this example does not allocate an ordinary operational task to members; their actual constitutional powers remain governed by the articles. A committee's remit and any executive approval limit need to be specified in the adopted scheme.
Copy the table into your board paper, then add named bodies, limits, consultation, reporting and evidence columns. Read each row as an example to test, not an allocation to adopt automatically. Decisions governed by specialist statutory procedures, including admissions, exclusions and complaints, need the relevant procedure checked separately before a trust assigns a decision-maker.
| Decision area | Members | Trust board | Committee | Local governing body | CEO or headteacher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy and trust priorities | Exercise constitutional oversight | Set trust strategy | Scrutinise proposals within remit | Advise on academy context | Prepare proposals and deliver agreed priorities |
| Annual budget | No routine approval role | Approve trust budget | Finance scrutiny and recommendation | Provide local needs and challenge | CFO prepares; executive implements approved budget |
| Budget forecast return | No routine role | Approve before submission | Review assumptions | Supply relevant academy information | Prepare and submit approved return |
| Purchasing and contracts | Declare relevant interests | Retain oversight and reserved approvals | Review within defined remit | Advise on local needs | Decide only within written limits and external controls |
| Trust policies | No routine role | Retain or delegate approval as permitted | Recommend or approve specified policies | Consult and monitor; approve only if authorised | Draft, implement and brief staff |
| Admissions arrangements | No routine role | Confirm lawful trust allocation | Scrutinise where authorised | Provide local context within remit | Administer under the approved arrangements |
| Suspensions and exclusions | No routine role | Ensure statutory routes are correctly identified | Review only under the applicable statutory procedure | Participate only if lawfully authorised | Follow the applicable headteacher decision procedure |
| Staffing and executive pay | Articles govern any trustee appointment | Approve pay policy and reserved decisions | Independent scrutiny within remit | Give local information, not automatic approval | Prepare evidence; no decision on own remuneration |
| Headteacher appointment | No routine role | Determine lawful appointment route | Selection panel if properly constituted | Input where the scheme provides | Participate within the approved process |
| Complaints | No routine case role | Ensure the approved procedure is followed | Panel role only where procedure permits | Refer through the correct route | Respond at the applicable procedural stage |
| Risk register | No routine operational role | Retain ultimate oversight and annual full review | Audit and risk advice | Report academy risks and mitigations | Maintain operational records and implement controls |
| Internal scrutiny | No routine programme role | Establish committee and retain assurance | Audit and risk committee approves and oversees programme | Provide relevant evidence | Support access and respond; do not scrutinise own work |
| Related party transactions | Declare interests where relevant | Ensure requirements operate trust-wide | Challenge conflicts and rationale | Raise relevant connections or concerns | Check reporting and prior DfE approval requirements |
| Annual accounts | Receive accounts; auditor appointment rules apply | Approve required board elements | Scrutinise and recommend | Supply relevant local evidence | Prepare statements and coordinate signatures/submission |
| Website governance information | Keep relevant details accurate | Ensure required publication | Confirm committee remit and records | Supply current membership and attendance | Coordinate publication and checks |
The financial rows are anchored in handbook paragraphs 2.4, 2.15–2.16, 2.31–2.34, 2.43, 3.6–3.8, 4.4–4.5 and 5.39–5.45. The policy and executive relationships use academy governance guide sections 4.3.4–4.3.6. Other rows deliberately point to a procedural check: this table does not assign a universal admissions, exclusion, staffing or complaints power. That avoids treating a general governance template as a substitute for the law governing a particular decision.
For each adapted row, identify the final decision, the conditions for exercising it and the record that will prove who acted. Add an escalation route if a proposal exceeds a limit or creates a conflict. A “consult” entry should identify whose view is sought and when; a “monitor” entry should explain which report the body receives. Where the correct allocation cannot yet be confirmed, mark the row unresolved and seek the necessary advice before approval.
How to use the scheme with the governing documents
Use the multi-academy trust structure guide alongside this checklist to confirm how members, trustees, committees, local tiers and executives fit together before testing individual delegations.
Start with the governing documents
Collect the current articles of association, funding agreement, committee terms of reference, financial delegation and approved governance scheme. Record the version and approval date of each. Ask the governance professional to identify inconsistencies before the board reviews individual rows. A committee cannot gain authority simply because a spreadsheet says it has it; the scheme needs to work within the trust's governing documents.
The DfE academy trust governance guide, section 4.3.6, explains how delegation connects the board, committees and executive leadership. The Academy Trust Handbook 2026 trustee guide explains the current financial framework, effective from 1 October 2026. Check the articles for the power to delegate and the funding agreement for the trust's obligations. A scheme records permitted authority; it cannot override those documents or the board's legal duties.
Separate decisions from advice and assurance
Use distinct verbs for approval, recommendation, implementation, monitoring and escalation. A row labelled “budget: local governing body” is ambiguous. Does the local body recommend an academy budget, approve spending within a limit, or review the effect of the budget on provision? Replace shorthand with an action and identify the final decision-maker.
For each row, check these fields:
- The decision or function, expressed in plain language.
- The person or body authorised to decide, and any conditions.
- Who prepares the recommendation and supplies supporting information.
- Who must be consulted before a decision is taken.
- The record of approval and the reporting route afterwards.
- The escalation route when the decision falls outside the delegation.
Use the same language in committee papers and minutes. If the scheme says “recommend”, the minutes should not describe the committee as having approved the matter. Consistent records make later reviews considerably easier.
Check the financial delegation separately
The board retains overall responsibility for trust funds. Handbook paragraph 2.4 requires an approved written scheme of financial powers and says it should be reviewed annually, with review at the next available board meeting following relevant management or organisational change affecting its effectiveness. Keep this financial document aligned with the wider governance scheme.
Test purchasing, contracts, budget changes and bank authorisations with the finance team. Distinguish an internal spending limit from a transaction needing prior DfE approval: internal delegation does not remove an external approval requirement. Do not copy limits from another trust without checking the applicable Handbook and your own arrangements.
Ask how the process works when an authorised person is absent, a supplier has a connection to a trustee, or several purchases form one larger commitment. The aim is to expose uncertainty before a live transaction. Retain the explanation of how exceptions are handled alongside the approved scheme, using restricted access where the supporting records contain sensitive information.
Make the local governance remit explicit
Local governing bodies, academy committees and academy councils do not all have identical powers. List the remit actually delegated in your trust. Cover the local contribution to educational performance, safeguarding assurance, community engagement and academy improvement, without assuming each function includes decision-making authority.
For example, a local committee might examine whether a trust policy is understood by families and report implementation concerns. That does not necessarily authorise it to replace the policy. Explain where local adaptations can be agreed, who approves them, and how staff receive the current version.
Define urgent escalation and feedback
A scheme should work between scheduled meetings. Identify the route for a material concern, the person who receives it and the evidence needed for an initial decision. Keep safeguarding reporting within the trust's established safeguarding procedures; a governance escalation document should never delay an immediate protective response.
For ordinary governance matters, record when the local body can expect an acknowledgement and how the trust will report back. An academy committee that repeatedly raises an issue without hearing the outcome cannot judge whether its scrutiny has made a difference. An escalation log can show the concern, recipient, decision, owner and next review date.
The companion guide to central-team oversight evidence explains how these local signals can feed a trust-wide assurance picture without losing academy-level context.
Test the scheme before approving it
Use a short workshop with trustees, executives, local chairs and the governance professional. Select three realistic situations: an unplanned contract commitment, a persistent academy performance concern and a proposed policy variation. Ask participants to trace authority, consultation, approval and reporting for each situation.
Approve, publish and maintain one current version
For the annual reporting cycle, the Academies Accounts Direction checklist helps distinguish preparation, committee recommendation and trustee approval of the accounts.
Give the board a short change summary explaining what has moved, why, and which groups need briefing. Record approval and the effective date. Handbook paragraph 1.55 requires accessible, current website details of governance arrangements, including the structure and remit of members, trustees, committees and local committees: the scheme of delegation for governance functions. Paragraph 1.50 also covers delegated arrangements in the governance statement. A scheme retained only in a private meeting folder does not satisfy the website provision. Retire superseded working copies so meeting organisers do not accidentally use an old scheme.
Common gaps and the annual review checklist
An out-of-date scheme may still use a former job title or assign approval to a committee whose terms have changed. Delegation to an individual can be especially unclear if a document names the person but not the role, permitted decision, limit or absence arrangements. Check the articles and authority for that delegation rather than assuming the chair can act alone. Unclear local powers and an unpublished scheme are separate gaps: briefing local governors does not replace the website duty.
Use this suggested annual review checklist alongside the financial review wording in paragraph 2.4 and the wider review triggers in governance guide section 4.3.6. It builds on the practical checks above; it does not create an annual statutory rule for every row.
- Identify the current articles, funding agreement, handbook and adopted scheme by version.
- Compare every committee's remit with its terms of reference and actual meeting practice.
- Distinguish retained approval from preparation, advice, consultation and monitoring.
- Confirm the names of roles, spending limits and conditions remain accurate.
- Test the local governing body's powers against the adopted arrangements.
- Check individual delegations, absence cover and the escalation route for exceptions.
- Keep specialist decision procedures separate and verify any allocation they require.
- Trace a contract, policy variation and academy concern through approval and reporting.
- Record the board decision, effective date, briefing actions and publication check.
- Schedule the next review and identify changes that trigger an earlier board discussion.
Retain unresolved questions in the review paper rather than hiding them in a polished matrix. The board can see what evidence or advice is outstanding and who will return with it. When the revised scheme is briefed, ask a principal, local chair and budget holder to use it on the same scenario. A consistent answer, supported by a clear authority and record, is a practical sign that the document is usable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a scheme of delegation?
For an academy trust, it sets out the governance structure, powers retained by the board and functions delegated to committees and executives. Section 4.3.6 of the academy trust governance guide describes the remit and relationships it should explain.
Who approves the scheme of delegation?
The trust board decides its delegations within the articles and governing framework. Handbook paragraph 2.4 expressly requires the board to approve a written scheme of delegation of financial powers; it cannot delegate overall responsibility for trust funds.
Does a maintained school have a scheme of delegation?
A maintained governing body can document delegations, sometimes using that label, but the academy-specific handbook requirement does not apply. Maintained schools and federations use their own statutory framework, committee terms and delegation records, including the 2013 regulations.
What should a MAT scheme of delegation include?
It should identify decisions, authorised roles, conditions, consultation, reporting and escalation. Align it with the articles, terms of reference and financial delegation rather than relying on an organisation chart.
How often should trustees review financial delegation?
Handbook paragraph 2.4 says the financial scheme should be reviewed annually and at the next available board meeting after a management or organisational change affecting its effectiveness. The governance guide section 4.3.6 asks the wider scheme to explain its review timeframe and triggers.
Can local governors approve a trust policy?
Only where the trust has delegated that authority within its governing documents. Consultation, monitoring implementation and approval are different functions and should be described separately.
How can trustees test whether delegation is clear?
Ask trustees, executives and local chairs to trace a realistic decision through consultation, approval and reporting. Resolve conflicting answers before approving the scheme.