The procedure cannot be legally used by the Governing Body of an LA maintained school.
The procedure that GBs must comply with is the School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regulations 2013, specifically
paragraph 14.
Para 14 (3) states that GB decisons can only be made by the votes of governors "
present" at the meeting. Physically present, in the room. Para 14 (6) provides some flexibility for governors to be deemed to be "present": "...the governing body may approve alternative arrangements for governors to participate or vote at meetings of the governing body including but not limited to by telephone or video conference".
I have come across cases where GBs have decided that para 14 (6) meant they could have email voting by people not at the meeting but the DfE guidance on para 14 makes clear this is not acceptable: see page 9 of the guidance
here. "...
voting in advance of a meeting is not permitted. It is important that governors are present to hear and engage in the debate before casting their vote."
In any event it is not a decision the Chair has the power to take. Para 14 (6) requires any decision to use 'alternative voting arrangements' to be a formal decision of the governing body and minuted as such.
And frankly the idea that abstentions in any voting system can be deemed to be a vote in favour is so obviously unreasonable and undemocratic in any public body I'm astonished that any governor would think that was OK. But the point is academic as email voting is not permitted anyway.
Where was your Clerk in all this? A key responsibility of the Clerk is to give procedural advice. If your Clerk did not advise governors that the proposed voting procedure was not permitted by Regulations the Clerk is manifestly not doing their job properly.
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