To ask the Minister for Employment and Learning for a numerical break-down, by (i) gender; (ii) age; (iii) disability; and (iv) ethnicity, of the Governing Bodies of each Further Education College, including the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise.

As part of my Department’s commitment to equality of opportunity, membership of the Governing Bodies of the six further education colleges is monitored in line with the requirements of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

However, Governing Body members are not compelled to provide this information and do so on a voluntary basis. As such, my Department only holds incomplete records in relation to the information requested. The table at Annex A outlines the information held on each further education college Governing Body at 30th September 2014.

Responsibility for oversight of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) belongs to the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development. The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development has advised me that CAFRE does not have a Governing Body.

Governance is provided within the structure of the Department. A College Advisory Group exists to provide advice at a strategic and operational level to the College Director and College Management Team. This group comprises representatives from external stakeholder groups across a number of sectors which are relevant to the work of the College. DARD does not hold Equality Monitoring information about this group; however the gender breakdown is two females and eleven males.

Annex A