Appointment of the Independent Chair to the Health and Social Care Pension Board (HSCPB)

Health Minister Robin Swann has announced the appointment of the Independent Chair to the Health and Social Care Pension Board (HSCPB).

Mr Paul Cummings appointment commenced on 1 July 2022 and will end on a date not later than 30 June 2026. 

The Independent Chair position attracts a remuneration of £380 per day with a time commitment of 10-20 days per year.

The HSCPB is unregulated, however, this appointment is made within the spirit of the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.

The HSCPB was established in 2015 under the Public Service Pensions (Northern Ireland) Act 2014 and the Health and Social Care Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015. Its purpose is to assist the HSC Pension Scheme manager in relation to securing compliance with the Scheme regulations and other legislation relating to the governance and administration of the HSC Pension Scheme and any statutory pension scheme that is connected with it. The Board is made up of one Independent Chair appointed by the Department. In addition, there are currently 12 members made up of equal numbers of employer representatives and representatives of scheme members.

Notes to editors: 

1. Paul Cummings is a qualified accountant training with Northern Ireland Electricity before joining the Health Service in 1986. He was appointed as Director of Finance to the Mater Hospital in 1990 and since then has occupied several Director roles across the Health and Social Care system including the UNDAH and the South Eastern Trust. He has recently retired from the role of Deputy Chief Executive of the Health and Social Care Board. In 2002/3 he was elected as the National President of the Health Care Management Association. He previously served as a member of the Board of SportNI.
2. Appointments as Chair of the HSCPB are made with the approval of the Health Minister.
3. All appointments are 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.  The appointee has declared that he has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.
4. For media enquiries please contact the DoH Press Office by email pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk.
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6. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service For Media Enquiries Only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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