Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Right Honourable Karen Bradley MP has announced the appointment of Vilma Patterson as a member of the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. The appointment will be for a period of five years ending on 30 June 2024. Mrs Patterson will replace Dr William Smith, who has completed two full terms in office.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland’s role is to review the number, names, designation and boundaries of parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland and to submit reports with recommendations to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The enactment of Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 introduced new rules and procedures to be followed in the delineation of parliamentary constituency boundaries together with a new method of allocating constituencies. It also provided for a 5-year cycle of reviews.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is responsible for making appointments to the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. The appointment is made in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986.

Biography of Appointee

Mrs Patterson spend much of her career as a Director and Company Secretary of a private sector sportsground construction company (1976-2005). She also has a wide range of experience serving in a variety of Public roles in Northern Ireland. She is a current member of the Armed Forces pay Review Body (2014-2020), having previously served as Chairman of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (2012-2018), and was a Civil Service Commissioner for NI (2009- 2015). She was also a member of the Parades Commission (2006-2010) and non-executive member of the Police Ombudsman’s Office (2010-2015).

Terms of Appointment

The position of member is a part-time appointment. The position attracts a daily remuneration of £505.50. The appointment will be from 1 July 2019 for a period of five years.

Political Activity

All appointments are made on merit and with regards to the statutory requirements. Commissioners should not have any party political affiliations which could be seen to affect their judgement and balance in their role as a Boundary Commissioner. Mrs Patterson declared no political activity in the past ten years.

Regulation

The appointment process has been regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointment (OCPA) and all stages of the process were overseen by an independent panel member.

Statutory Requirements

This appointment is made by the Secretary of State with regard to the equality provisions set out in section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and in accordance with Schedule 1 Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986.

Annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom to 2018.

Annual statistics on ‘Total Income from Farming’, a measure of the performance of the UK agricultural industry.

Data sets to accompany the 2018 Agriculture in the United Kingdom publication.

While there is no single approach to pay that will work for every trust, the guidance sets out key factors that should be used by academy trust boards when setting or reviewing executive salaries, so they are set at fair, reasonable and justified levels.

The guidance for setting executive pay enables boards to be confident and accountable for the decisions made on their executive salaries.

Lord Agnew, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System said:

“Over the past 18 months, we have cracked down on excessive executive pay. However, our focus is not only on challenging trusts where we identify disproportionately high salaries, but in providing support to trusts to enable them to make robust, evidence-based decisions about pay.”

“We expect trusts to make the most of this guidance to ensure that their salary levels are publicly justifiable and provide the best value for money for their institution.

Eileen Milner, ESFA chief executive said:

“We continue to keep a watchful eye on ensuring that excessive executive pay is challenged.

“It is crucial that executive salaries are set at a fair and justified level so that public funding is invested wisely on children’s education.

“Our guidance will help support academies in their decisions on how much executive pay should be set, so that salaries can be set confidently at a reasonable limit.”