Department for the Economy Board minutes 2025 -28 May 2025

Stephen Kelly presented

• Magee expansion was Minister Murphy’s No1 priority and he wanted to establish a taskforce to achieve this. Requirements were established with DfE, UU and people from a wide variety of backgrounds that could give support. Tasked with:- by Jan 25 to produce an action plan and pathway to delivering NDNA asap. A huge amount of work has gone into producing a plan with timelines, costings, projects and courses for the target of 10,000 students which is now a PFG commitment.
• All taskforce asks have been met including finance and property purchases. Capital for this year was spent last year so we are ahead of plan. Going forward there will be clear sight of budgets for the next 3 years and Stephen asked if there was anything more the Taskforce could do to help.

Linda McGuinness presented

• The project hits all of Minister’s 4 priorities.
• Enrolment has gone from 4060 in 21/22 to circa 5800 currently.
• This was a key initiative under NDNA, aligned with PFG including financial commitment.
• There are 17 reps in the Taskforce with Stephen Kelly being the Chair. There is also a dedicated DfE team.
• EY will be assisting on student accommodation, marketing and WP.
• The Interim Report shows that all asks have been met. The Final Report shows incremental growth to 2032.
• Student accommodation is one of the biggest challenges with infrastructure in the City not able to keep up.
• Recurrent needs are £2.5m. Linda discussed capital and enabling costs extracted from the Final Report and the cost of funding additional student places.
• Delivery to date includes the provision of £21.5m of capital expenditure from DfE and UU and the purchase of 12 sites over 3 lots. Infrastructure and planning are in line with UU in Belfast. Their interventions are driving student numbers. There was an extensive campaign on marketing and outreach last year. Magee sits between 2 deprived areas – how do we get them into Universities?
• Capital projects involve new building and refurbishment including those at Timberquay and Queens Quay.
• KPMG have been commissioned to deliver a report on the economic impact. For every £1m invested there will be a return of £2.01m to the City and region.
• A range of pieces of work are being done on student incentives, marketing campaigns, widening participation initiatives and private sector initiatives.
• A piece of work is about to be commissioned re student accommodation to determine if there is market failure and what options there are. Students have turned down offers due to lack of accommodation.
• There will be a pre-market community engagement event.
• Risks and issues include transport, car parking and a natural decline in population post 2029.
• Next steps were discussed.

Paul Seawright presented

• This is UU Senior Leadership’s No1 priority.
• It will deliver a huge economic benefit to the region. We want students to stay and work in the region.
• All 4 faculties have taught provision on Campus.
• There will be new catering facilities and the Dome sporting facility.
• Projected student numbers are at the limit of capacity.
• NI Water have said that there will be sufficient supply and waste but this needs tested in real life.
• There has been a subject growth of 42% between 21/22 and 24/25.
• International student numbers are down. Income from them is very important.
• Popular programmes have been duplicated from Belfast.
• Students’ preferences have been for QUB, then UU in Belfast. Some courses can be offered in Magee rather than Belfast.
• Paul sited the case of a 26% increase in demand for the Psychology course.
• Challenges to further expansion include sustainable funding and student accommodation.

Leo Murphy and Gavin Kileen discussed the importance of Regional Colleges, keeping young people in NI and the system in Republic of Ireland.