The Justice Minister Naomi Long has announced the appointment of six independent members to the Northern Ireland Policing Board
The appointment of three members will be effective from 1 December 2022 and three from 1 April 2023.
Naomi Long said: “I am pleased to announce six independent members, of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. I am confident that the members will bring a wide range of skills and experience to an already strong Board. The Policing Board is one of Northern Ireland’s most important public bodies and it is vital that we have an effective and efficient Board that holds the Police Service of Northern Ireland to account.
“I would like pay tribute to three members whose terms conclude on 30 November 2022, including the Chair, Vice Chair and Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, for the valuable contribution they have made to policing in Northern Ireland and their time, hard work and dedication to the work of the Policing Board.”
Following a Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland regulated public appointment competition for independent members, Justice Minister Naomi Long appointed the following independent Board members:
With effect from 1 December 2022:
Kate Laverty
Les Allamby
Peter Osborne
With effect from 1 April 2023:
Frank McManus
Mukesh Sharma
Brendan Mullan
Frank McManus is a current independent Board member. His current term of appointment is for a period of three years from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2023.
Notes to editors:
1. The Northern Ireland Policing Board is an independent public body established under the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 (the 2000 Act). The primary function of the Board is to hold the Chief Constable and police service publicly to account. It has a key role in securing the maintenance of an effective, efficient, impartial and accountable police service, which will enjoy the support of all sections of the community.
2. The Policing Board consists of 19 members, ten of whom are nominated from among members of the Northern Ireland Assembly – “the political members”, and nine appointed by the Minister of Justice following open competition – “the independent members.”
Appointment process
3. The procedure for the appointment of independent members is compliant with the Commissioner for Public Appointments Northern Ireland (CPANI) Code of Practice. The independent appointments were made by the Minister of Justice taking account of her statutory duty under Part III of Schedule 1 to the 2000 Act to secure that, as far as is practicable, the membership of the Board is representative of the community in Northern Ireland.
4. The ten MLAs who serve on the Policing Board are nominated by their respective party nominating officers according to d’Hondt principles, as required by the 2000 Act. These nominations are not subject to the CPANI Code of Practice.
5. The 2000 Act provides for the appointment of a Chair and Vice-Chair of the Policing Board. Appointments to these offices are made by the Board from among its members in accordance with the Act and are not subject to the CPANI Code of Practice.
6. All six appointments will be for a period of four years.
7. The Justice Minister wrote to The Executive Office, the Chief Executives of all the District Councils in Northern Ireland and the Chief Constable prior to making these appointments
8. Remuneration for an independent member is £15,000 per annum and the time commitment required is a minimum of four days per month.
9. The appointment of all independent members is made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published. Details of the declaration by each appointee in relation to political activity are included below.
10. PEN PICTURES
Dr. Kate Laverty
A charity sector leader, Dr. Kate Laverty has specialised in mental health and community engagement. She’s served as Interim Executive to five charities in the last four years focussed on performance improvement and transformation initiatives. She volunteers in her local youth centre, having attained her M.S.Sc. Youth and Community Work in 2012. She also holds a B.A. Byzantine History, M.A. Irish Cultural Heritage Studies, M.Sc. Computer Science, and an MBA. Her EdD focussed on the experiences of LGBTQIA youths in N. Ireland’s secondary schools. Diagnosed with M.S. in 2016, she sits as Council Chair for the M.S. Society UK in N. Ireland.
Political Activity – None
Mr Les Allamby
Les Allamby is a solicitor and former Director of Law Centre(NI) and Chief Commissioner of the NI Human Rights Commission. He recently chaired an independent panel on Social Security Mitigations for the Department for Communities (NI). He has undertaken election monitoring in Bosnia, Pakistan, and Georgia for the OSCE and European Union. He is currently Chair of NIACRO, a member of the Board of the Mary McCracken society and on the Council of Justice.
Political Activity – Les was a member of the British Labour Party from 1st September 2021 to 31st August 2022.
Mr Peter Osborne
Peter has been involved in reconciliation work most of his adult life and undertakes a range of strategies, plans and interventions for public agencies and with the community sector.
Peter is currently a board member of the International Fund for Ireland.
His voluntary commitments include being chair of the Integrated Education Fund and chair of the Centre for Cross Border Studies. He is chair of the Northern Ireland board of Remembering Srebrenica.
Peter has chaired the Community Relations Council and was a Commissioner and chair of the Parades Commission for a combined period of over ten years.
He served as a member of Castlereagh Borough Council 1993-2005 but has had no political involvement since then. He was a member of the BIG Lottery Fund. Peter founded and chaired Landmark East with the East Belfast Partnership (now Eastside Property), a property-based social enterprise in East Belfast winning an Aisling Award; and later has received an award for promoting inter faith understanding.
Political Activity – None.
Mr Frank McManus
Frank currently owns and leads a consultancy company which specialises in formulating plans and securing funding for start-up businesses. Additionally, they work with existing small businesses to realise quantifiable growth. He is passionate about helping businesses survive and flourish in today’s extremely challenging market conditions and pressures.
Prior to founding his consultancy firm, Frank worked in the telecommunications industry for over 40 years, leading and directing the broadband program in Northern Ireland and managing the Wholesale Sales and Marketing role pan island of Ireland.
Frank is an accomplished sales and marketing director. He has gained extensive knowledge and experience as a member and chair of education, sporting, industry, and charity boards. Throughout all his roles, voluntary and professional, Frank has consistently engaged with and developed exceptional relationships with a diverse range of individuals, communities, leaders, organisations, and stakeholders to understand their concerns and needs to ensure the optimum delivery is realised.
Political Activity – None.
Mr Brendan Mullan
Brendan Mullan has extensive senior management experience in the voluntary, public and private sectors, successfully leading organisations at Managing Director and Chief Executive level, most recently as Chief Executive of the USPCA.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and a Chartered Director. His academic background also includes a degree in business administration and accountancy from Queen’s University Belfast, an Irish Peace Institute Management Fellowship, and a German Marshall Fellowship to the USA. He is a previous winner of Institute of Directors’ Northern Ireland Non-Executive Director of the Year award and was recognised at the UK Director of the Year Awards for Excellence in Corporate Governance. Brendan includes among his interests, competitive rowing and bird watching.
Political Activity – None
Mr Mukesh Sharma MBE DL
Mukesh Sharma was born in England and raised in Northern Ireland within the Indian community. He has a breadth of experience in business growth and acquisition, organisational change, partnership working and advocacy in developing international partnerships. Most of his business life has been in the travel, tourism and airline industry and he has worked in the UK and abroad, heading up a number of major companies during this time. In 2016, Mukesh was commissioned as Deputy Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast and was awarded an MBE in 2016 for Services to the travel industry in Northern Ireland. He has led many initiatives across Northern Ireland to promote the arts, community cohesion and the prevention of racism, sectarianism and hate crime. He serves as a board member of a number of charities including Barnardos, ArtsEkta and The Princes Trust. He was appointed to the Northern Ireland Executive Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition which undertook a programme of work to shape a Northern Ireland free from segregation and division. He holds one other public appointment, Chair of the National Lottery Heritage Fund in Northern Ireland and UK Trustee
Political Activity – none.
11.The Board’s political members are:
Gerry Kelly - Sinn Féin
Linda Dillon - Sinn Féin
Liz Kimmins - Sinn Féin
Trevor Clarke - DUP
Maurice Bradley - DUP
Joanne Bunting - DUP
John Blair - Alliance
Nuala McAllister - Alliance
Mike Nesbitt - UUP
Mark H. Durkan - SDLP
12. For media enquiries contact the Department of Justice Press Office at press.office@justice-ni.gov.uk
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