Trust development services terms and conditions

Updated April 2025

CST trust development services are provided by CST Professional Development Ltd ("CST PD"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Confederation of School Trusts ("CST").

These Terms and Conditions apply to all trust development services provided by CST PD including: external reviews of governance; governance structure reviews; support for executive performance review and executive recruitment; the facilitation of strategy days: speaking engagements; mentoring for executive and governance leaders; bespoke services (such as board and executive support for trust mergers) and any similar trust development consultancy services.

1. General principles

1. CST trust development services are provided by our highly experienced team of education consultants and mentors who have deep experience of trust governance and leadership. Our consultants follow a core CST methodology and framework for services that they deliver and are supported by the CST trust development services team and quality assurance processes.
2. CST trust development services are open to both CST members and organisations that are not in CST membership. To benefit from preferential member rates on trust development services, you need to be up to date with subscription payments for the duration of the service, not only at the date of signing your contract for services. Should your CST membership lapse during the delivery of the development services you will be billed for the full services at our non-member rate. Further information about CST membership can be found on our website.
3. Payment and invoicing arrangements for trust development services will be set out in the contract for services. Unless advised otherwise, invoices will be sent to the finance contact in your trust directly where CST has their details on record on completion of the project.

2. Delivery of an agreed service

1. The scope of the services will be agreed with the commissioning organisation and set out within the contract to deliver the services, the following principles will be followed by the consultant and the organisation:
   1. The consultant will undertake such work as may be required as per the consultancy contract. Any variation to the scope of work, for example to tailor the services in response to emerging needs of the organisation, will be mutually agreed by the organisation and the Should any variation to the service require additional consultancy time, CST PD will confirm any additional cost with the organisation in writing in advance of delivery.
   2. The consultant will be provided with access to key stakeholders within the organisation as necessary, such as employees and volunteers, and be furnished with such information, services and facilities for the undertaking of the duties agreed in the contract. Failure to provide the consultant with timely information required to assist in the preparation and completion of objectives of the contract may result in cancellation of the contract as set out in clause 4 below and additional cost as per clause 4.3.
   3. CST PD will agree the nature and timescale for the work to be Once the work is underway, the consultant may deem it appropriate to alter the timeframe set out in the contract. The reason for any changes in the nature or timescale for the work will be discussed with the organisation and any changes will be mutually agreed and confirmed in writing.
2. Where agreed within the contract for services, the consultant will provide the organisation with written or oral reports from time to time as necessary and written reports or other suitable output on completion of the work to a designated representative of the organisation. Working papers may be submitted from time to time and discussed with appropriate members of staff on a confidential Unless specifically stated otherwise all reports or other formal outputs of the project shall be held in line with CST’s policies.
3. All recommendations made under a consultancy contract, any subsequent reports, working papers or other outputs from the service will be prepared in good faith on the basis of the co-operation of the organisation and the information before the consultant at the time. The consultant will share observations based on the information they have collected and has been shared with them during the engagement.
4. Recommendations, answers to questions and other details provided are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal The organisation must ensure that appropriate advice on any specific legal, HR or financial matters is sought from suitably qualified professionals.
5. CST PD, its employees and consultants can accept no liability whatsoever arising from the services to be supplied or from any document produced by the consultant, whether to the organisation or to any third party.

3. Cancellation or deferral of an agreed service

1. To protect consultants and CST PD against loss when scheduled work is cancelled or deferred at short notice, CST PD will apply this cancellation and deferrals policy.
2. CST PD reserves the right to waive the cancellation policy at its discretion in exceptional
3. We understand that plans can change and appreciate the earliest possible notice of a contracted meeting or event not being able to go ahead. We will make best efforts to reschedule the work within a reasonable period depending upon the nature of the service and consultant availability.
4. When a cancellation or request to defer to an alternative date is made at short notice, the following charges will apply:
   1. 7 or more working days, no charge;
   2. 6 or fewer working days, £250 + VAT, or 50% of the cost of the scheduled hours, whichever is lower; or
   3. Within 24 hours of the delivery date, £500 + VAT, or 100% of the cost of scheduled hours, whichever is lower
5. If a consultant, mentor, or CST employee has already committed to travel or hotel bookings to provide the cancelled service, the cost of these bookings will also be invoiced to the organisation where they are non-refundable.
6. If a consultant or CST employee has already spent time preparing content related to service delivery, the cost of this time may be invoiced to the organisation if it cannot be used in other aspects of the agreed services being provided.

4. Termination of a contract

1. For most development services, CST PD will invoice organisations on full delivery of the scope of For services delivered over an extended period, an interim payment schedule will be agreed and set out in the contract for services. If an organisation does not want to continue with a service before delivery is completed, it will need to give notice in writing and agrees to pay for the time and expenses incurred to-date.
2. If an organisation does not engage with the consultant or CST PD employees to the extent that the service cannot be delivered, CST PD reserves the right to terminate the contract if all reasonable attempts to communicate with the organisation have not been
3. A cancellation fee of £100+VAT will be applied to the final
4. If a consultant has already committed to travel or hotel bookings to provide the next part of the cancelled service, the cost of these bookings will also be invoiced to the organisation if they are non-refundable.

5. Changes to contracted services

1. If an organisation wishes to change the focus of a services contract, e.g. if an executive leader has left the organisation and the board wishes to continue to support their successor with mentoring, the initial contract will be cancelled at no charge and a new agreement put in place.
2. CST PD reserves the right to apply an administrative charge of £50 where considerable time is required to revise the agreed scope of work.
3. If an organisation wishes to extend a contract, the terms of the extension contract and associated fees will be agreed in writing with CST PD.
4. CST PD reserves the right to change or cancel arrangements if a consultant becomes unexpectedly unavailable, for example through illness or family emergency. Where this is necessary, we will seek to provide a reasonable alternative and/or reschedule arrangements. If the consultant absence is prolonged, CST PD will provide another suitably qualified and experienced consultant to continue the work. The organisation will retain the right to terminate the contract at no additional charge if they do not wish to engage with the proposed consultant or mentor.

6. Acceptance of terms and conditions

1. These Terms and Conditions may be revised from time to time and updated versions will be posted on CST’s Individuals representing the organisation are responsible for keeping up to date with all changes. Continued engagement with the contract shall be deemed acceptance of all changes to these Terms and Conditions.

7. Privacy policy and confidentiality

1. Please read CST’s Privacy Policy for information about how we use your data.
2. CST PD and the consultant agree that they will not disclose, divulge, reveal, report, or use, for any purpose, any confidential information obtained, except as authorised by the organisation or as required by law. This obligation will apply during the term of the contract for trust development services and will survive indefinitely following termination of the contract.
3. If CST PD or the consultant delivering trust development services are made aware of any matters of non-compliance with the organisation’s governing documents or statutory requirements, the organisation will be informed immediately. The organisation must make every effort to address matters of non-compliance swiftly. CST PD reserves the right to escalate material matters of non-compliance to the organisation’s members or other appropriate bodies should the organisation continue to not meet its legal and regulatory requirements on these issues.