Prior to this, he was Deputy Secretary in the Department of Agriculture from 2009.
He will take up the post in the Department of Education on 1 March 2021.
Education Minister, Peter Weir, said, “I want to congratulate Mark on his success in the recent competition to appoint a new Permanent Secretary for my Department.
“He brings with him an extensive range of skills and experience that are essential in such a key post.
“Mark is joining the Department at a time when we continue to deal with the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector.
“I look forward to working with Mark in tackling the significant strategic challenges facing the education sector in the months and years ahead.”
Northern Ireland crackdown on special advisers set to become law
Executive Office spad numbers will be cut to six, salaries capped at £90k and advisers subject to the same disciplinary rules as civil servants
PA
03 Feb 2021
Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly have given their backing to new restrictions on special advisers at Stormont which will set a limit on numbers and the imposition of new disciplinary processes and procedures.
The measures are contained in a private member’s bill proposed by Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister, which passed its final stage in the assembly yesterday and is due to receive royal assent in the coming weeks.
Claire Aiken
IT S a test to write any article at present that does not relate to either the pandemic or Brexit. This piece is no different, I’m bringing Covid-19 into the picture right at the start, bear with me though as I’ll move on quite quickly.
The virus has brought many challenges, not least amongst them the need for employers to take heed, and take care of, the health and safety of their workforce. This care over the past 10 months has manifested in different ways according to perceived business needs; the installation of physical barriers and sanitisation stations in the workplace, the introduction of weekly well-being staff catch-ups over zoom, the sharing of links to webinars on self-care etc.