UU Magee Taskforce - meeting minutes 28 April 2025

Agenda

1. Welcome
2. Conflict of Interest
3. Minutes from last meeting
4. Update on Economic Impact Assessment KPMG
5. Update on Programme Business Case SIB
6. Progress report from DfE
7. Special Council Meeting: HMOs
8. Status of UU Capital projects
9. Student Accommodation
10. Cross-border collaboration / next steps
11. Future work plan and engagement
12. Any other business
13. Date of next meeting
14. Tour of ATU

In attendance:

Name	Role
Stephen Kelly (Chair) (SK)	CEO, Manufacturing NI
Nicola Skelly (Vice-Chair) (NS) - Virtual	Executive Director, Washington Ireland Programme
Prof. Paul Bartholomew (PB)	Vice-Chancellor, Ulster University
John Kelpie(JK)	Chief Executive, Derry City &Strabane District Council
Leo Murphy (LM)	Principal and ChiefExecutive, North West Regional College
Paul Hannigan (PH)	Head of College, Atlantic Technological University Donegal
Steven Lindsay (SL)	Deputy Vice President, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce
Alison Wallace (AW)	Strategy Manager, Waterside Neighbourhood Partnership
Ethan Davies(ED)	President, UlsterUniversity Students Union
Gavin Killeen MBE (GK)- Virtual	Managing Director, Nuprint Technologies Limited
Ian McKenna (IK)	Principal Officer, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Dawn McLaughlin (DM)	Non-Executive Director, InvestNI
Moira Doherty (MD) - Virtual	Deputy Secretary, Skillsand Education Group,Department for the Economy
Mary MacIntyre OBE (MM)	Chartered Town Planner
Linda McGuinness (LMG)	Director, MageeExpansion Division, Department for the Economy

 

Apologies:

Name	Role
Prof. Paul Seawright OBE (PS)	Deputy Vice-Chancellor, UlsterUniversity
Philip Rodgers (PR)	Director of Workforce Policy, Department of Health
Paddy Mackel (PM)	University and College Union

Welcome

SK welcomed the attendees to the meeting and thanked PH for hosting.

Conflict of Interest

JK noted that Taskforce members have already declared conflicts and that could it be recorded in terms of overlap of interest due to day-to-day roles. LMG noted it would be necessary to record conflicts at the beginning of the meeting to ensure no perceived or pecuniary interests existed as there is no formal declaration process elsewhere for member of the Taskforce. It would still be important to record conflicts in the event there was a direct perceived interest from any of the members which may impact decisions. SK content with this approach.

Minutes from last meeting

MD noted an amendment that it is quite right that the Taskforce should provide a solid case for funding and investment and suggested highlighting potential reduced costs to the public purse such as health savings and other social costs and benefits.

JK noted the last paragraph in section 9 – line referring to ‘council has adopted’ should be ‘council has received a direction order in relation to its LDP’.

Action Point 1 – DfE to revise minutes and reissue for clearance.

Update on Economic Impact Assessment

SK welcomed Chris Rothwell from KPMG.

Chris verbally updated the Taskforce on the progress of the Economic Impact Assessment and noted that two main sections were complete and submitted to the Department for review. He stated that work continues on the risks and limitations section, following which, the sections would be combined, and the report finalised over the coming weeks.

SK thanked Chris for his presentation and asked if it would be possible to have a draft for the Taskforce members to review. Chris stated that it was hoped that a draft is complete by mid-May and once submitted to the Department and approved, it would be ready to be shared with the Taskforce members.

LMG noted with this draft including cross border it would be useful to get to IK and PH for input. SK asked for a draft to be shared with all Taskforce members before finalisation. LMG noted that drafts for the Stage 1 report had been shared with key Taskforce members prior to approval for input but is content to share with all members for their review once reviewed by officials.

SK then opened the floor for questions of which there were none.

Update on Programme Business Case

LMG noted a change to the timeline of the Programme Business Case (PBC). It had been deemed that several workstreams were needed to feed into the PBC so the date for reporting has been pushed back in order to allow a completer and more informed PBC. LMG reassured members that although unfortunate, the delay is not reason for concern and that the PBC would continue to progress at pace. SK noted the importance of adhering to deadlines but stressed that it was important to feed into the three-year budget - this was critical and would define the success of this project.

Susan provided a verbal presentation outlining the work that has been done to date including consultations with key stakeholders, some Taskforce members and external organisations such as Translink.

LMG noted that to compete the PBC several workshops needed to be carried out. They had been scheduled for 1 May but with the timeline being pushed back this date has now been freed up to hold a smaller workshop with UU officials and SIB to ensure that all relevant data is received in a timely fashion. There was brief discussion about should an additional piece of work on transport be carried out to feed into the PBC. JK noted that there are currently strategic transport studies underway but welcomed a focused transport study as part of the PBC particularly on Magee expansion. SK noted that the Taskforce position should be to incentivise public transport to encourage behavioural changes in a move away from cars. LMG noted that there may be workstreams in train (e.g. by the Council) and that it would be useful for DfE to be involved in that work also if that was the case.

SK thanked Susan and agreed that extension to the PBC was necessary to ensure that it had value going forward. Taskforce members agreed. The floor was opened up to questions. No questions were raised.

Progress report from DfE

LMG provided a presentation outlining the capital budget that had been approved for the coming financial year and the status of ongoing capital projects. She also updated the Taskforce on the resource budget, the PBC and the governance workstream currently being developed by SIB.

LMG updated on the DfE team structure and advised that it was progressing with the help of EY.

AW stressed the importance of ensuring that the community engagement from the Taskforce needs to be co-ordinated better. Members agreed, noting further that engagement needs to be NI wide, and on the ‘front-foot’ to address misinformation that is circulating.

Special Council Meeting: HMOs

SK updated on Derry City & Strabane District Council (DCSDC) who held a special council meeting which carried a motion to write to the DfE Minister in support of the expansion of the Derry~Londonderry Campus.

HMO policy was discussed in respect of the Local Development Plan that is due to be taken forward by DCSDC and how this would need to work in parallel with the Purpose Built Student Accommodation that is required to provide a campus fit for 10,000 students. SK noted that the Taskforce had been asked to consider this HMO policy and specifically the residents request for a 10% cap.

The Taskforce noted the request, but cognisant that the Taskforce itself has no legal role in these decisions some members or the organisations they represent do. It was felt that it was therefore advisable to be guided by the legal position and advice of DCSDC who are the planning authority. However, it was agreed to consider implications once the Student Accommodation piece of work would be completed by the Department.

Status of UU Capital projects

PB provided an update on capital projects. He stated that a public consultation on the Shared Island Teaching Block event will take place on 21 May and that a contract is being secured for the fitout of the computer labs in Timberquay. This would free up space in existing campus buildings for alternate use. He advised that there was a massing study underway and options for connecting the main campus to the land recently acquired were being explored.

Student Accommodation

A prospectus/portfolio on PBSA has been prepared by UU and will be circulated to Taskforce Members for comments and feedback. It was agreed that this would be circulated after the meeting.

PB advised that the number of available student accommodation beds for 2025-26 has increased slightly, and the Homestay app has been launched which will allow students to reside with local families. PB noted that UU had recently made a change to the length of contracts for PBSA from 41 weeks to 44 weeks. PB continued to discuss extending the academic year to ensure these accommodation changes are beneficial to students who have agreed accommodation contracts.

LM enquired if the Homestay launch had been widely promoted as it may have gone under the radar. It was suggested that Taskforce members utilise their social media accounts to promote this app.

JK noted that planning applications are in train, and while they may not all proceed, could have the potential to fulfil the requirements set out in the Taskforce Report and Action Plan with approx. 3000 additional beds.

Action Point 2 – DfE to issue draft prospectus to Taskforce Members for review.

Action Point 3 – Taskforce members to promote Homestay app on social media accounts.

Cross-border collaboration / next steps

SK began by acknowledging that the Taskforce Final Report and Action plan did not provide much in the way of cross border discussion and that as the two jurisdictions are so close it would be useful to see what could be done across local institutions.

LM provided a presentation outlining the work that has been carried out by the North West Tertiary Education Cluster (NWTEC).

IK noted that collaboration between DfE and DFHERIS has value but that the Shared Island and future projects would need to clearly demonstrate benefit to both jurisdictions going forward. A brief discussion ensued regarding the type of areas to promote, and it was felt that instead of just going for the safe options, apprenticeships and courses such as Electric Vehicle technicians should be developed as they can be challenging due to the different regulatory bodies but would have demonstrable benefit to both jurisdictions. It was noted that a key consideration for the NWTEC was ensuring that it was sustainable, beyond the current intake.

LMG noted that beyond this, a more detailed strategic cross-border piece was required for input to the PBC. It was agreed by members that developing this will necessitate Department-to-Department discussions in the first instance. MD noted that both Ministers have expressed a strong view to work together, viewing the Magee expansion as a pathfinder for ongoing broader collaboration.

Action Point 4 – DfE to develop more detailed strategic cross-border data and linkages for PBC.

Future work plan and engagement

Covered during meeting.

Any other business

ED note that he would be finishing his tenure and sought approval to bring his successor to the next meeting.

Date of next meeting

To be discussed offline but expected to be towards end of June.

Tour of ATU

Due to time constraints the tour was unable to take place.

Action Points

No.	Action Point	Owner	Status
1.	DfE to revise minutesand reissue for clearance.	DfE
2.	DfE to issue draftprospectus to Taskforce Members for review.	DfE
3.	Taskforce members to promote Homestay app on socialmedia accounts.	Taskforce
4.	DfE to develop moredetailed strategic cross-border dataand linkages for PBC.	DfE