---

Belfast Education and Library Board

Answer

Appointments to the Belfast Education and Library Board are made by the Education Minister. The members appointed in July 2005 were selected in accordance with legislative requirements and the code of practice laid down by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.Fourteen members were nominated by the relevant local council, in this case Belfast City Council. Eight members were nominated by the transferors and trustees. The Minister approved those nominees for appointment.The remaining 13 members were appointed through a process that is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. On this occasion, six members met the criteria for reappointment. The remaining seven appointments were made by the Minister following a process that reflected the commissioner’s requirements, particularly the need for public appointments to be made on merit.This process involved shortlisting and interviewing carried out by a panel that included an independent assessor nominated by the commissioner. The panel’s recommendations were passed to the Minister for Education who made the final decision on appointments.The commissioner’s independent assessor found the process used to have met the exacting standards set down by OCPA.The information available in respect of the community background of members on the Belfast Education and Library Board is detailed in the table below. To enable Ministers and departments to ensure that the pool of candidates from which appointments are made contains a fair and equitable representation of the Northern Ireland community, in accordance with OCPA guidelines, details of community background are sought from each candidate for monitoring purposes. This information is not made available to the shortlisting and interview panels or to the Minister when decisions on appointments are being made.

	Protestant (percentage)	Roman Catholic (percentage)	Other (percentage)
BELB
District Council Nominees	46	54	-
Transferor/Trustee Reps	50	50	-
General Interest Members	31	69	-
Overall Balance    (percentage)	40	60	-

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

1621; 675 c18-9WA

Session

2005-06

Related items

Belfast Education and Library Board
Tuesday, 6 December 2005
Written questions
House of Lords

Subjects

Public appointments Religion Belfast Education and Library Board

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk