Coppice Primary Partnership is a charitable company limited by guarantee. Its governance is carried out through its Members and Trust Board.

Members

Members are the guardians of the Trust’s constitution. Their role is similar to that of shareholders in a company, although they do not own the Trust and do not receive any financial benefit from it.

Members have a number of important constitutional responsibilities, including:

• appointing and, where necessary, removing Members;
• appointing a number of Trustees;
• ensuring that the Trust continues to operate in accordance with its Articles of Association;
• receiving the Trust’s annual report and accounts; and
• appointing the Trust’s external auditors.

Members are not responsible for the day-to-day running of the Trust or its schools.

Name	Role	Date Appointed
Steve Knowles	Member	01/09/2018
Carole Hardy	Member	01/09/2018
Andrew Lacey	Member	10/12/2025
Phil Reynolds	Member	02/01/2024
Neil Almond	Member	15/07/2024

Trustees

Trustees are both charity trustees and company directors. Collectively, they form the Trust Board, which is the legally accountable body for Coppice Primary Partnership.

The Trust Board is responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the Trust. Its core responsibilities include:

• setting the Trust’s vision, values and strategic direction;
• holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the Trust and its schools;
• overseeing the Trust’s financial performance and ensuring that public funds are used effectively;
• ensuring that the Trust meets its legal, regulatory and safeguarding responsibilities; and
• ensuring that governance arrangements remain effective as the Trust develops and grows.

Trustees act collectively. Individual Trustees do not have authority to make decisions on behalf of the Trust unless that authority has been specifically delegated.

Name	Role	Committee	Term of office
Carole Hardy	Chair	I&E	31/08/2026 – 28/08/2030
John Edgar	Vice Chair Appointed by Member Board	F&A	24/07/2023-23/07/2027
Mark Chatley	Trustee (Ex-officio) – AO
Andrew Maitland	Appointed by Member Board	F&A	31/08/2026 – 28/08/2030
Peggy Murphy	Appointed by Member Board SEND & Safeguarding Trustee	I&E	31/08/2026 – 28/08/2030
Carina Cuddington	Co-opted (Link Finance Trustee)	F&A	03/04/2023-02/04/2027
Mary Priestley	Appointed by Member Board	I&E	06/02/2026-08/02/2030
Neil McDonald	Appointed by Member Board	F&A	20/04/2026-19/04/2030

Board Committees

The Trust Board is supported by two committees:

• Finance & Audit Committee
• Inclusion & Education Committee

The committees undertake detailed scrutiny and assurance on behalf of the Trust Board and report their findings and recommendations back to the Board.

Local Governance

Each CPP school has its own Local Tier. Details of the Local Tier, including the Chair of each Local Board, are published within our governance information.

Register of Interests and Attendance

Current relevant business and financial interests for Members, Trustees, Local Governors and the Accounting Officer are published as part of our governance information.

We also publish attendance information for Trustees and Local Governors for the previous academic year.

View our Register of Interests and Attendance

Further information

Further information about how governance operates across Coppice Primary Partnership can be found in our:

• Scheme of Delegation
• Articles of Association
• Guide to Governance
• committee terms of reference
• governance membership and interests information

These documents are available on our Key Governance Documents page.