Election procedures
4.—(1) A local education authority shall be responsible for making all necessary arrangements for, and for determining all other matters relating to, the holding of an election of a parent governor representative to a relevant committee, but nothing in this regulation shall prevent an authority from appointing another body to conduct or oversee that election.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), where a vacancy for a parent governor representative is required to be filled by election the local education authority shall announce that vacancy and at the time of that announcement shall—
(a)appoint a returning officer who shall ensure that so far as is possible the election is conducted fairly;
(b)take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that every person who is known to them to be eligible to vote in the election of a parent governor representative is—
(i)informed of the vacancy and that it is required to be filled by election;
(ii)informed that he is entitled to vote at the election;
(iii)informed of the details of the electoral timetable and procedures;
(iv)informed of the qualifications which a person requires in order to be elected as a parent governor representative, and of the term of office of a parent governor representative; and
(v)provided with a description of the role of a parent governor representative.
(3) Any election of a parent governor representative which is contested shall be held by secret ballot.
(4) No ballot paper in such an election shall contain any indication of an affiliation with a political party.
(5) Where a vacancy for a parent governor representative arises, the local education authority shall—
(a)determine, for the purposes of the election, any question as to a person’s entitlement to vote or eligibility to stand for election;
(b)provide for every person who is eligible to vote in the election to have an opportunity to do so by post; and
(c)secure that the results of the election are announced not more than one week after the date of the election, and not more than three months after the announcement of the vacancy.
(6) Where a vacancy remains unfilled because no, or not enough, candidates seek election, the local education authority shall comply with the requirements of this regulation again within one year of the original vacancy having arisen.
(7) Nothing in these Regulations shall require a ballot to be held if the number of vacancies to be filled is equal to or exceeds the number of candidates for election.