UU Magee Taskforce - meeting minutes - 23 June 2025

Agenda

• Welcome
• Conflict of Interest
• Minutes from last meeting
• Transport Proposals
• Update on Economic Impact Assessment
• Update on Programme Business Case
• Progress report from DfE
• Marketing/Widening Participation
• Student Accommodation
• Future work plan and engagement
• Any other business
• Date of next meeting

In attendance

Name	Role
Stephen Kelly(Chair) (SK)	CEO, Manufacturing NI
Nicola Skelly (Vice-Chair) (NS)	Executive Director, Washington Ireland Programme
Prof. Paul Bartholomew (PB)	Vice-Chancellor, Ulster University
Linda McGuinness (LMG)	Director, MageeExpansion Division, Department for the Economy
John Kelpie (JK)	Chief Executive, Derry City& Strabane District Council
Steven Lindsay(SL)	Deputy VicePresident, Londonderry Chamberof Commerce
Alison Wallace (AW)	Strategy Manager, Waterside Neighbourhood Partnership
Ethan Davies (ED)	President, UlsterUniversity Students Union(outgoing)
Lee Doran (LD	Vice President Magee, UlsterUniversity Students Union (incoming)
Gavin Killeen MBE (GK)	Managing Director, Nuprint Technologies Limited
John HealyOBE (JH)	Chair, InvestNI
Mary MacIntyre OBE (MM)	Chartered Town Planner

Apologies

Name	Role
Prof. Paul Seawright OBE (PS)	Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Ulster University -
Philip Rodgers(PR)	Director of Workforce Policy, Department of Health
LeoMurphy (LM)	Principal and Chief Executive, North West Regional College
Paul Hannigan (PH)	Head of College, Atlantic Technological University Donegal
Paddy Mackel (PM)	University andCollege Union
Moira Doherty (MD)	Deputy Secretary, Skillsand Education Group,Department for the Economy
Mark Lee	Director, Higher Education, Department for the Economy
Dawn McLaughlin (DM)	Non-Executive Director, InvestNI
Ian McKenna (IK)	Principal Officer, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science

 

Welcome

SK welcomed the attendees to the meeting and noted the apologies from members unable to attend. He welcomed John Healy, Chair of Invest NI, who is replacing Dawn McLaughlin for a short period of time.

ED welcomed Lee Doran (LD), the incoming Vice President of Magee Students’ Union. SK welcomed LD and formally thanked ED for his support and work with the Taskforce.

LMG welcomed Abby Reid (AR) from EY who has temporarily joined the Department to work on key projects for approx. three months.

Conflict of Interest

No Conflict of interests were declared.

Minutes from last meeting

Minutes from Meeting 11 were agreed with suggested amendments (below). Minutes from Meeting 12 were agreed.

Item 2 – Update from KPMG

MD noted 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. 

Item 9 – Student accommodation

JK stated that the Council has received a direction order from DfI in relation to its Local Development Plan regarding Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).

Actions from previous meeting

PB provided a verbal update on the geographical locations of this year’s UCAS applications to the Derry-Londonderry campus. Linda noted that these figures would be important in informing solutions in advance of any major changes in the transport infrastructure and the programme business case and asked PB to share this data with the department.   

Action Point 1 – PB to share geographical location of UCAS applications to the Derry-Londonderry campus with the Department

Transport Proposals

SK welcomed Ian Campbell, Sarah Simpson, Hilton Parr and Deirdre Watson from Translink to the meeting. Ian began presenting and invited colleagues to discuss options around:

• Earlier and later rail services arriving and departing from the North West Transport Hub (NWTH) plus the introduction of an hourly Sunday rail service (currently 2 hourly).
  • A proposal connecting NWTH with Ulster University and Foyle Street Bus Station – this is expected to be a free service connecting with every train arrival and departure (Mon-Sun) but will require funding to establish.
  • New service by Foyle Metro servicing Drumahoe Park and Ride part funded through developer contributions – this will commence in September 2025.
  • Foyle Metro services displaying Ulster University as a secondary destination on bus information screen from September 2025 – note approx. 14 Foyle Metro services per hour passing the campus.
  • Potential for UU branded iLink cards for students to assist getting to/from the University – funding required.

Ian stated that he would like greater clarity from the Taskforce on what the asks of Department for Infrastructure were.

SK thanked everyone for their input and opened the floor for questions. He asked about timelines for when these proposals may be implemented. Ian stated that many of these were in train and would be in place for the coming academic year.

JK asked if there could be a dedicated service to Magee from other Park and Ride facilities in the surrounding region. Sarah noted that the 212 and 273 services to Derry~Londonderry included several Park and Ride facilities and perhaps communication could be put in place to show Magee as a destination. There was a brief discussion around the use of iLink cards for the Belfast campus and costings. JK noted that the Park and Ride service from Drumahoe could play a major part in the local car parking issues, alleviating pressures in the area around Magee and the City.

Action Point 2 - SIB Economists and DfE to engage with Translink on the Public Transport requirements for the programme business case.

Update on Economic Impact Assessment (EIA)

SK welcomed Daragh McGreal and Chris Rothwell from KPMG.

Daragh presented on phase two of the Economic Impact Assessment. He pointed out the differences in methodology with work completed by London Economics for Ulster University (UU) in the past, namely that London Economics modelled the entire UK while KPMG have adjusted for NI only. Daragh stated that further work was needed to draw out the additionality in the report.

It was noted the numbers presented in phase two are lower than phase one due to a change in data provided. Several other items in the report were discussed and finalising the draft based on recent feedback from DfE and Taskforce Members.

PB expressed concern around the Return on Investment comparison between UU, and other UK institutions as set out in the report, noting that the number given is less than UK average. There was discussion on the reasons for the difference in the benefit comparators and it was agreed that an explanation in the foreword would be required.

Action Point 3 – DfE to ensure KPMG includes an explanation for benefit comparators in foreword.

There was discussion on up-to-date student numbers as the data KPMG has used is from 2023. PB said updated data was available and could be obtained from Professor Shane Crothers.

Action Point 4 – DfE to ensure that UU provide KPMG with updated enrolment data.

LMG noted the recently identified workstreams will have to be fed into the report and will be added towards the end of July or early August.

PB noted there was reference in the report that UU were responsible for the delivery of student accommodation and asked that this be amended to the Taskforce and the Department

Action Point 5 – DfE to ensure KPMG amends reference to student accommodation.

Update on Programme Business Case

SK welcomed Susan Lindsay and Angela Reavey and invited them to brief the Taskforce on the progress of the Programme Business Case. Susan presented on the policy drivers, spending objectives and dependencies.

SK noted the expansion was going to change the face of the City and not just the surrounding area. ED asked if social housing might be an issue to be addressed as without this students/graduates may leave the city on completion of their studies. JH asked about identifying where graduates had settled following graduation and PB noted this is more difficult due to GDPR. JH noted some good work has been done around the Belfast campus and Invest NI have a team that may be able to help with this information.

Action Point 6 – DfE to ensure JH connects SIB to data team in Invest NI for demo of the data portal used to help inform the economic impact metrics being considered. 

 

Progress report from DfE

LMG provided an update on DfE progress since the last meeting in April. She outlined delivery to date over the past delivery to date over the past 12 months and highlighted the progress made. LMG also presented on the Capital and Resource budget for Financial Year 2025/26 and outlined the projects that have been identified. An update on the progress of the Governance Framework development was provided.

There was a discussion regarding the enabling projects that will complement the expansion, including community engagement, transport, private sector and student incentives. It was noted, some of the working groups are at a more advanced stage than others.

LMG concluded with a forward look noting the workstreams to be completed in the next few months, including;

• PBC finalised by September 2025.
  • Student Accommodation assessment by the end of July 2025.
  • Progress on a three-year budget.
  • Governance and staffing plans.

SK then opened the floor for questions.

LMG informed the School of Medicine (SOM) will be taken forward at the maximum option, but funding still has to be secured. DfE are currently seeking this funding and once approved will write to Ulster University to officially confirm.

SK noted several reports will be issued in the coming months and whilst he is happy to receive the reports in full suggested a short one-page document be completed for each report and issued for convenience.

Marketing/Widening Participation

SK asked Abby Reid from EY to provide an update on the Marketing and Widening access & Participation (WAP) workstreams. Abby highlighted the WAP working group have deliberated on several proposals and have determined costs allowing the

workstream to progress. The working group will engage will engage with UU to develop an action plan to confirm the direction of travel for their work.

AW noted that she hoped to see some more community led initiatives as most of what has been proposed is currently being led by UU and North West Regional College (NWRC).

Abby updated on the work of the Marketing sub-group and noted there are limits on its work if unable to provide in student accommodation.

Student Accommodation

The Department for the Economy provided an update on student accommodation. They highlighted the need for up to 3,500 student beds to support the growth of the campus to 10,000 students. It was noted that UU have indicated there is little or no interest by developers to build Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA). They advised that DfE have commissioned a market study to establish the current position for student accommodation in the city and if market failure is present. Lisney has been appointed with a draft report expected in three weeks and a final report to be completed by the end of July 2025.

MM noted the good work done to grow student numbers, but that these students needed somewhere to live. She noted that the focus so far seems to have been on large scale PBSA, but smaller schemes could perhaps contribute to some of the immediate shortfall and have a cumulative impact on the number of beds in the City. MM also noted that there have been no Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) applications approved by Council this year so far.

JK noted that a full Derry City & Strabane District Council (DCSDC) meeting later this week will discuss the Local Development Plan (LDP) which includes a policy position on HMOs. He noted the opinion is that large scale PBSA is what is needed to address the lack of student accommodation and suggested Student Accommodation subgroup would be best placed to progress this.  

SK indicated there is a planning application for student accommodation currently being processed through a Pre-Application Discussion (PAD).

PB noted that accommodation is required immediately and advised that as UU are currently ahead in projected student numbers, they would require approx. 200 beds for September.

MM pointed out that Derry~Londonderry has no shortage of people willing to build or invest if demand is identified and suggested a strong message should be issued.

SK mentioned he has been approached by several willing parties and had some positive discussions, but with little indication of a guaranteed return some are unwilling to commit to PBSA, it is felt that it is more attractive to provide properties for Housing Associations. He noted the importance of communication with potential investors to make them aware of upcoming demand.

PB provided information on the Homestay App which was launched recently. There have been 87 enquiries to date with some live applications in motion, however they would hope for more.

Future work plan and engagement

LMG provided an overview of the upcoming work of DfE:

Programme Business Case

• Final report due end of September 2025
  • Programming of capital build and refurbishment to be finalised and programmed out to 2032.
  • Gateway review to be initiated

Student Accommodation

• Student Accommodation assessment initiated – report due end of July

Budget 2025/26

• Working towards three-year budget – DfE/Executive

Governance

• SIB has proposed a governance structure. To be further considered in tandem with seeking comparable practical best practice examples to model

Staffing

• Staff plan being finalised/wider dept inputs defined

Engagement

• DfE to appoint a new Social License Lead who will act as a local liaison between DfE, the Taskforce, UU, DCSDC, and wider stakeholders

Any other business

PB raised the impact on wider university operations that contributing to the expansion plans was having, due to the significant demand on staff time.

LMG noted there is a budget available for the UU Project Management Office (PMO) which should be drawn upon to support this work.

Date of next meeting

To be confirmed but expected to be September. 

It was noted that with some of the subgroups completing there may need for an additional (virtual) meeting to discuss the outputs before the next full meeting.

Action Points

No.	Action Point	Owner	Status
1	PB to share geographical location of UCAS applicationsto the Derry-Londonderry campus with the Department	UU
2	SIB Economists and DfE to engage with Translink on the Public Transport requirements for the programme business case.	SIB/DfE
3	Explanation forbenefit comparators to be included in foreword	DfE
4	DfE to ensure thatUU provide KPMGwith updated enrolment data.	UU/DfE
5	DfE to ensure KPMG amends reference to student accommodation.	DfE
6	DfE to ensure JH connects SIBto data team in Invest NI for demo of the data portal used to help inform the economic impact metrics being considered	DfE