Appointment of Chairperson and Members to the Education and Skills Authority (ESA)

Appointment of Chairperson and Members to the Education and Skills Authority (ESA)
~ Thursday, 22 November 2012

The Department of Education (DE) is seeking to appoint a Chairperson and 4 members representative of the community to the board of the new Education and Skills Authority (ESA).

In its Programme for Government, the Executive has made a commitment to establish ESA and to ensure it is operational from 2013. ESA is being established by statute as a Government-sponsored Non-Departmental Public Body which will operate within a framework of policy, legislation and accountability developed by the Department of Education (DE). ESA will replace the functions and support services currently performed by the five Education and Library Boards (ELBs), the Staff Commission for the Education and Library Boards, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) and the Youth Council. Some functions from within DE will also transfer to ESA. The location of ESA is still under consideration.

The ESA board will comprise a chair and 20 members including 8 political representatives; 4 members representative of the interests of transferors of controlled schools; 4 members representative of the interests of trustees of maintained schools; and 4 members representative of the NI community. The process for appointing the political representatives is set out in the legislation and the transferor and trustee members will be appointed by the Department after consultation with the bodies that represent their interests.

Skills and Experience

The Department wishes to attract a wide range of skills, interests and experiences to the ESA board and encourages applications from those with an interest in serving in the education sector including those who have not previously held a position in this area.

Applicants for the Chairperson position must meet three essential experienced-based criteria on Leadership, Strategic Thinking and Communication Skills and also one essential knowledge-based criterion on the Education System in NI.

Applicants for the member positions representative of the community must meet four essential experienced-based criteria on Governance, Strategic Thinking, Analytical Thinking and Making an impact with others and also one essential criterion requiring experience in a field of activity relevant to the discharge of the functions of ESA and an understanding of the main issues facing the education service in NI.

Further details of the roles and full selection criteria are set out in the application pack.

Term of Appointment, Time Commitment and Remuneration

The term of appointment for both positions is four years. Time commitment will be determined by the needs of ESA with the successful appointees expected to attend board meetings, committee meetings and other events, including evening meetings and public occasions. It is estimated that the time commitment required will be equivalent to approximately three days per week for the Chairperson position and five days per month for the member positions.

The Chairperson will receive remuneration of £33,000 per annum plus travel and subsistence allowances and members £8,800 per annum plus travel and subsistence allowances. Dependent care allowances may also be paid to eligible members.

Closing Date

The closing date for applications is 19 December 2012. Late applications will not be considered. CVs will not be accepted. Interviews for all posts are expected to be held during February and March 2013 and appointments are expected to be made in April 2013.

How to apply

There are separate application packs for the Chairperson and member positions which are available by contacting DE as follows:

Telephone: (028) 9127 9704/461
Text phone: 18001 (028) 9127 9461
Voicemail: (028) 9127 9860
Email: egppt@deni.gov.uk
Website: www.deni.gov.uk

or by writing to:

Education Goverance Team
Department of Education
Rathgael House
43 Balloo Road
Rathgill
Bangor
County Down
BT19 7PR

Please state which application pack(s) you require. Application packs can be made available in other formats e.g. Braille, large print. If you require an application pack in a different format please contact us as above.

DE is committed to the principles of public appointments based on merit with independent assessment, openness and transparency of process. DE is committed to providing equality of opportunity for all applicants. Applications are welcomed regardless of religious belief, gender, disability, ethnic origin, political opinion, age, marital status, sexual orientation, or whether or not you have dependants. We would particularly welcome applications from women, people under 40 years of age, members of ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. The final decision on appointments will rest with the Education Minister.

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