The Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986

Article 3(4), (5).

SCHEDULE 2 N.I. EDUCATION AND LIBRARY BOARDS

PART I N.I. CONSTITUTION OF BOARDS

Appointment of members N.I.

1.—(1) The maximum number of members to be appointed to a board shall from time to time be determined by the Department. N.I.

(2) The Head of the Department shall appoint to a board—

(a) persons nominated in accordance with paragraph 2 by each district council in the area of the board from amongst members of that council;

(b) persons appearing to the Head of the Department—

(i) to represent the interests of transferors of schools in the area of the board;

(ii) to represent the interests of trustees of maintained schools in the area of the board;

(iii) to be suitable for appointment by reason of their interest in the services for which the board is responsible.

(3) Appointments under sub-paragraph (2)(b)(i) and (ii) shall be made after consultation (to such extent as may seem to the Head of the Department practicable and expedient) with interests appearing to the Head of the Department—

(a) in the case of appointments under sub-paragraph (2)(b)(i), to represent the transferors of schools in the area of the board; and

(b) in the case of appointments under sub-paragraph (2)(b)(ii), to represent the trustees of maintained schools in the area of the board.

(4) The members of a board shall be appointed in the year 1973 and in every fourth year thereafter and—

(a) persons appointed to a board shall become members of the board from such date (being a date as soon as possible after members of district councils are nominated to the board under sub-paragraph (2)(a)) as shall be specified in their appointment;

(b) the appointment shall cease to have effect after the day preceding that from which the next subsequent appointments made under this sub-paragraph are effective.

(5) A member of a board on the expiry of his term of office shall, unless he is disqualified under paragraph 6(1), be eligible for re-appointment to the board.

(6) A vacancy occurring in the membership of a board shall be filled by a person appointed by the Head of the Department being a person of that category specified in sub-paragraph (2)(a) or (2)(b)(i) or (2)(b)(ii) or (2)(b)(iii) to which the member being replaced belonged and that person shall hold office for the residue of the term of office of that member.

Members nominated by district councils N.I.

2.—(1) The Department shall from time to time determine the total number of members to be nominated to a board by district councils in the area of the board and the number to be nominated by each such district council and, in determining that total number, the Department shall ensure that— N.I.

(a) the total number is as nearly as possible equal to two-fifths of the maximum number of members of the board; and

(b) each district council in the area of the board may nominate at least one member;

and, in determining the number of members to be nominated by a district council, the Department shall have regard to the population in the area of that district council.

(2) As soon as possible after the date on which a district council is elected in accordance with section 11(2) of the [1962 c. 14 (N.I.)] Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 and in any event within one month of that date, the council shall select the members of the council to be nominated by it to a board and shall send to the Head of the Department the names and addresses of the persons so nominated.

(3) If a district council fails to nominate members to a board in accordance with sub-paragraph (2) or fails to nominate the requisite number of such members, the Head of the Department may, on behalf of that council, make such nominations or such additional nominations of persons who are members of that council as may be necessary by reason of such failure and such nominations shall be deemed for all purposes to be nominations by the council.

[F1 (4) As soon as possible after the date on which a vacancy occurs among the members of a board appointed under paragraph 1(2)(a) and in any event within two months of that date, the appropriate council shall select a member of that council to be nominated by it to the board to fill that vacancy and shall send to the Head of the Department the name and address of the person so nominated.

(5) If the appropriate council fails to nominate a member to a board in accordance with sub‐paragraph (4), the Head of the Department may, on behalf of that council, nominate a person who is a member of that council and that nomination shall be deemed for all purposes to be a nomination by that council.

(6) Sub‐paragraphs (4) and (5) do not apply where the Head of the Department fills the vacancy in question by re‐appointing a person under paragraph 6(5) and notifies the appropriate council of that re‐appointment.

(7) In subparagraphs (4) to (6) “the appropriate council” in relation to a vacancy means the council by which the member being replaced was nominated.]

F1 1989 NI 20

Other members N.I.

3.  The Department shall from time to time determine the total number of persons to be appointed to a board as representing the interests of transferors of schools and trustees of maintained schools in the area of the board and the number of such persons to be appointed— N.I.

(a) to represent the interests of transferors of schools shall as nearly as possible bear the same proportion to one-quarter of the maximum number of members of the board as the number of pupils enrolled in controlled primary schools in the area of the board bears to the total number of pupils enrolled in all primary schools in that area;

(b) to represent the trustees of maintained schools shall as nearly as possible bear the same proportion to three-sixteenths of the maximum number of members of the board as the number of pupils enrolled in maintained primary schools in the area of the board bears to the total number of pupils enrolled in all primary schools in that area.

4.—(1) The maximum number of persons appointed to a board under paragraph 1(2)(b)(iii) shall be as nearly as possible seven-twentieths of the maximum number of members of that board.

(2) Three of the persons so appointed shall be appointed by reason of their being teachers serving at the time of their appointment in grant-aided schoolsF2 . . . in the area of the board and at least three persons so appointed shall be persons appearing to the Head of the Department to have an interest in the public library service.

F2 1997 NI 15

Resignation and disqualification of members N.I.

5.  A member of a board may resign therefrom by giving notice in writing to the Head of the Department and, in the case of a person nominated by a district council, to that council but such a notice given by a member nominated by a district council shall not take effect until after the then next following meeting of the district council by which he was nominated. N.I.

6.—(1) A person shall be disqualified for being a member of a board or of a committee or sub-committee thereof if— N.I.

(a) he is employed by that board or any other board as a paid officer; or

(b) he has been adjudged bankrupt or has made a composition with his creditors; or

(c) he has within the five years immediately preceding the day of his appointment or at any time thereafter—

(i) been convicted by a court in Northern Ireland or elsewhere in the British Islands of any offence and ordered to be imprisoned for a period of not less than three months without the option of a fine; or

(ii) been guilty of any conduct which the High Court, by order under section 31(3) of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 or by order under that section as applied by paragraph 8, has declared to be reprehensible;

but section 5 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 shall apply to a disqualification under head (b) of this sub-paragraph and such a disqualification shall cease in accordance with the provisions of that section.

(2) A member of a district council who is appointed under paragraph 1(2)(a) to a board on the nomination of that district council shall cease to be a member of the board if he ceases to be a member of that district council and a person appointed to a board under paragraph 1(2)(b)(iii) by reason of his being a teacher serving in a grant-aided schoolF3 . . . in the area of that board shall cease to be a member of that board if he ceases to be such a teacher.

(3) Where a member of a board becomes disqualified under sub-paragraph (1) or is absent from meetings of the board for more than six months consecutively, or a person ceases to be a member of a board under sub-paragraph (2), the board shall forthwith notify the fact to the Head of the Department and, if that member was nominated by a district council, to that council and thereupon the office shall become vacant.

(4) Attendance as a member of a board at any meeting of a committee of the boardF4 . . . shall for the purposes of sub-paragraph (3) be regarded as an attendance at a meeting of the board.

(5) The Head of the Department when notified under sub-paragraph (3) that an office has become vacant because of the absence of a member of board from meetings of the board, having considered the reason for his absence, may, if he thinks it desirable in the circumstances, re-appoint that person as a member of that board.

(6) Section 6(1) to (3) of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 (penalties for acting while disqualified) shall apply to a board and a committee or sub-committee thereof and to a member of a board or of a committee or sub-committee thereof in like manner as it applies to a district council and to a member of a district council respectively.

F3 1997 NI 15

F4 1989 NI 20

Disclosure of pecuniary interest and relevant family relationships. N.I.

7.  Sections 28 and 29 (disclosure of pecuniary interests and disability from voting on account thereof), section 30 (disclosure of relevant family relationships), section 33 (time limit for proceedings) and section 146 (interpretation; pecuniary interests) of the [1972 c. 9 (N.I.)] Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 shall apply to a board and to a committee thereof to which Article 4(5) applies and to a member of a board and of such a committee in like manner as they apply to a district council and to a member of a district council respectively but with the substitution for references to the clerk of the council of references to the [F5 chief executive] of the board and for references to that Act of references to this Order and with the substitution for the words “by any local elector for the district of the council” in section 28(4) of the words “ by and other person ”. N.I.

F5 1989 NI 20

Recovery of wrongful gains and remedies against member guilty of reprehensible conduct. N.I.

8.  Sections 31 to 33 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 (recovery of wrongful gains and remedies in respect of reprehensible conduct) shall apply to a board and to a committee thereof to which Article 4(5) applies and to a member of a board and of such a committee in like manner as they apply to a district council and to a member of a district council respectively and for the reference to that Act in section 31 as so applied there shall be substituted a reference to this Order. N.I.

PART II N.I. PROCEEDINGS OF BOARDS

9.—(1) A board shall, at its first meeting after its appointment, elect one of its members to be chairman and on of its members to be vice-chairman who, unless the board otherwise determines, shall hold office until the next subsequent appointment of members of the board under paragraph 1(4) becomes effective. N.I.

(2) Where, at any meeting of the board, the chairman is absent, the vice-chairman, if present, shall be chairman at that meeting and where, at any such meeting, both the chairman and vice-chairman are absent, the chairman at that meeting shall be such member of the board present as the members attending the meeting shall appoint.

(3) The chairman at any meeting of the board shall, in addition to his right to vote as a member of the board, have a casting vote.

10.—(1) The quorum of the board shall be one-third of the total number of members of the board. N.I.

(2) The proceedings of a board shall not be invalidated by any vacancy among its members or by any defect in the appointment or qualification of any of its members.

11.  The seal of the board shall be authenticated by the signatures of the chairman or other member of the board authorised by it to act in that behalf and of the [F6 chief executive] or some other officer of the board authorised as aforesaid. N.I.

F6 1989 NI 20

12.—(1) The Department may make regulations regulating the procedure to be followed by a board or any committee thereof in carrying out its functions. N.I.

(2) A board shall draw up standing orders for the conduct of the business of the board or any committee thereof and such standing orders shall be subject to the approval of the Department.

13.—(1) A board may enter into contracts necessary for the discharge of any of its functions. N.I.

Sub‐paras. (2), (3) rep. by 1993 NI 12

(4) All contracts made by a board or a committee of the board shall be made in accordance with the standing orders of the board and in the case of contracts for the supply of goods or materials[F7 to the board] or for the execution of works[F7 for the board] the standing orders, except as otherwise provided by or under the standing orders, shall—

(a) require notice of the intention of the board or committee to enter into the contract in question to be published and tenders invited; and

(b) regulate the manner in which such notice shall be published and tenders invited.

(5) Without prejudice to section 19(1)(a)(ii) of the [1954 c. 33 (N.I.)] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, a person entering into a contract with a board shall not be bound to inquire whether the standing orders of the board which apply to the contract have been complied with and all contracts entered into by a board, if otherwise valid, shall, notwithstanding that the standing orders applicable thereto have not been complied with, have full force and effect.

F7 1993 NI 12