Minister appoints independent convenor for College Employers’ Forum

1. The Department for the Economy (DfE) is the sponsor Department for the six Further Education Colleges established under the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.  While each of the colleges are employers in their own right, they have traditionally come together to engage jointly in collective bargaining with Trade Unions on staff terms and conditions through the College Employers’ Forum (CEF). The role of the CEF is to manage the FE Colleges’ relationship, as employers, with staff in all colleges at a sectoral level, arranging for the negotiation of sector wide pay, conditions of service and related issues.  It is made up of the six Governing Body Chairs and six Principals/Chief Executives of the FE colleges.

2. Mr Milligan has been appointed following a recent appointment exercise. Mr Milligan has extensive experience in working in both the private and public sectors in both executive and non-executive roles.  He is currently Chair of the Labour Relations Agency. His experience includes leadership roles within large global and national organisations including Bombardier Aerospace, Nortel Networks and Dunbia Agrifood.  Until January 2024 he served as an executive at Translink and following a period as Interim Chief Executive he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive in 2015. He served as Chair of the Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland for a period of six years until March 2024. He is currently Chair of National Museums Northern Ireland. Gordon was awarded the OBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for service to Business and Human Resources Management in Northern Ireland. He has an MBA, is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

3. The purpose of the convenor role is to oversee and report to DfE on the functioning, evolution and overall effectiveness of the College Employers’ Forum. The role will be remunerated for 1-2 working days per month. It will initially be for a period of one year, after which it will be reviewed to assess the ongoing requirement. 

4. The appointment was 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 Milligan has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.

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