Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“The recent appointment of Paul Kavanagh to the Education Authority has understandably caused great hurt to innocent victims of terrorism given that Mr Kavanagh was sentenced to five life terms for blowing up Chelsea Barracks in 1981. Two people died in that attack and many others were left with life changing injuries.
“Having been removed from office as a Special Adviser following a public outcry Mr Kavanagh again finds himself in a handpicked role due to his connections with Sinn Fein.
“The appointment has caused me to ask some questions of the Education Minister about how such a situation could have arisen. In response to one of these the Minister has revealed that while appointments by the Department are subject to a criminal history record check, members of the Education Authority appointed by political parties go through no such process.
“It seems to me self-evident that the law is deficient in applying such double standards. Currently it allows someone with Mr Kavanagh’s history to be appointed by a political party while at the same time rightly barring them from being appointed by the Department.
“Surely this is a situation which cannot continue?”
Note to editors
Mr Allister’s question and the Minister’s reply are as follows:
AQW 14496/17-22 Written Answer
To ask the Minister of Education to what vetting and checks are members of the Education Authority subjected before appointment.
Schedule 1 of the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 sets out the constitution of the Board of the Education Authority (EA) – a Chairperson and 12 members (representing the interests of various education sectors in NI), appointed by the Department, and eight persons nominated in accordance with the D’Hondt principles (“Political Members”). As such the Chairperson and representative members are appointed to the EA Board by the Department, and the eight Political Members are appointed directly by the nominating officer of the political party. For those appointments made by the Department to the Education Authority, individuals are required to have a criminal history record check undertaken via a basic disclosure Access NI check – to confirm whether, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (as amended), they have any ‘unspent’ criminal convictions. Most convictions are followed by a rehabilitation period, and after the rehabilitation period has ended, the conviction becomes ‘spent’. Provided a conviction is ‘spent’, a criminal record will not necessarily debar an individual from public appointments to the boards of the Department’s arm’s length bodies. In addition, individuals are required to declare any political activity they have undertaken within the last five years, as well as any other public appointments they currently hold (i.e. those appointments made by a Minister or Department) and any conflicts of interest.