Parent Governor Representatives

Parent governor representatives (PGRs) represent the views of parents from their area to the local authority. They have places, with speaking and voting rights, on local authority committees dealing with education. PGRs form a national network, so that the individual representative can share with representatives in other areas the experience of working in - and with - their local authority.

A parent governor representative is responsible for:

• Keeping in touch with general views of parents.
• Speaking for parents and pupils on education matters at local authority meetings.
• Voting in key decisions.
• Feeding back the local authority's discussions on education to parents.
• Acting as a sounding board for the local authority when it wants to get a feel for whether parents are likely to welcome or reject a particular proposal.

Although there are no financial rewards from being a parent governor representative, you may find that you gain a great deal of personal satisfaction from performing this important public service. You may also gain a better understanding of how your local authority takes strategic decisions and you will build valuable working relationships with local councillors, officers, church representatives and other appointed committee members.

To become a PGR, you must be a parent governor and at the time of election, must also be the parent of a child at one of the local authority's schools. For more information, contact your local authority.