Appointment to the governing body of South Eastern Regional College

1. Mr Hagen has been appointed from the reserve list of a public appointment competition which took place during 2020.  He is a qualified Accountant and has worked in various public sector service delivery organisations for most of his career. He has operational management experience of financial accounting, management accounting, budgeting and financial planning for large public sector organisations. He also has management experience in corporate planning, performance and risk management, and public accountability and corporate governance, and is currently head of corporate planning and performance for a large Non-Departmental Public Body. Mr Hagen has served for two years as the independent member on the Performance and Risk Committee at Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council, and receives remuneration of £250 per meeting, and travel expenses for this position.

2. SERC is one of the six further education colleges in Northern Ireland. Colleges are non-departmental public bodies of the Department for the Economy, which are established under the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. The governing body (GB) of a further education college is responsible for securing the efficient and effective management of the college, the provision of suitable further education to its students and determining the college’s strategic direction. In delivering college services, the GB takes into account the educational and skills needs of the business sector and the local community.

3. The post of GB member is remunerated at £250 for a GB meeting and £150 for a committee meeting or event sanctioned by the Chair, plus travel and subsistence allowances which are payable at Northern Ireland Civil Service rates in respect of activities carried out whilst fulfilling their duties.

4. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published. Mr Hagen has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.

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