To ask the Minister of Education to detail how many of the fifteen advisory and administrative posts set out in his Department's business plan for shared education have been filled.

The Delivering Social Change Shared Education Signature Project Business plan included fifteen Development officers at an annual budget of £540,000.

Following a subsequent grading exercise by Education and Library Board’s (ELB) HR function these posts were graded at a higher level than originally planned. After discussion it was agreed that ten posts at Assistant Advisory Officer grade should be recruited across the 5 ELB areas. Of these, nine were filled by September 2015.

One of the appointed officers left their post in November 2015. The post was offered to the first reserve who has been on maternity leave and is due to join the team in February 2017. This post has been filled on a temporary basis by seconding teachers as appropriate.

The recruitment process for the tenth post, which will support the recently agreed Teacher Professional Learning strand, is in progress with appointment expected in the coming weeks.