Lyons appoints Governing Body members to FE colleges

Date published: 19 October 2022

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has appointed four new Governing Body members across three further education colleges.

Competition for new Chair for HSENI
Competition for new Chair for HSENI

All have been appointed for a period of four years.

Bill Montgomery has been appointed to Belfast Metropolitan College from 5 October 2022.

Stuart Harper has been appointed from 29 September 2022 and Nick Harkness appointed from 3 October 2022 at Southern Regional College

Maureen Brunt has been appointed at South West College from 29 September 2022

The appointments were made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.

Notes to editors: 

1. The four individuals have been appointed from the reserve lists of a multi-college public appointment competition which took place during 2021.

2. The three further education (FE) colleges are non-departmental public bodies of the Department for the Economy (DfE), which are established under the FE (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. The governing body (GB) of an FE 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 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. Pen pictures are available on the DfE website.

5. 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. The individuals appointed have not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.

6. To keep up to date with news from the Department you can follow us on the following social media channels:

7. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk

8. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

Share this page

Back to top