Resignation and disqualification of membersN.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 schoolF1. . . 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 boardF2. . . 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.