Locate Education HQ in NW: MLA

Speaking at the Assembly he said: “My constituency has the highest unemployment across Britain or Ireland.

“This would be a tremendous opportunity for him to make a commitment to that constituency by putting the headquarters of the new Education Authority in Derry.”

The Education Minister John O’Dowd replied: “Mr Eastwood asked about the location of the Education Authority’s HQ. That will be a matter for the authority, and I suspect that that will not be its first act of deliberation.

“There is a lot of work to be done by the authority on putting structures in place and moving forward through its change programme.

“However, education already has a very devolved body of management.

“Our current education and library boards are out there among communities and have headquarters in various locations.

“The Department of Education already has a significant staff complement in Derry, in Waterside House, but I have no doubt that, once the Education Authority moves to its location strategy, Members will quite rightly lobby for their own constituency.

“The point was well made that we should look to locate quarters, buildings, staff and jobs in areas of high social deprivation. That is a fair enough point.”