Appointments to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council
Date published:
The Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, has announced the appointment of three Non-Executive Members to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC), and an extension to the term of an existing Member’s appointment.
Colin Reid has been appointed as a Non-Executive Registrant Member, with Colm Donaghy and Frederick Smyth being appointed as Non-Executive Stakeholder Members. All three appointments commenced on 1 April 2026 and will end on a date not later than 31 March 2030. Mr Gerard Guckian’s extension to his term as a Member commenced on 1 May 2026 and will end on a date not later than 31 August 2026.
NISCC Non-Executive Member positions require a time commitment of a minimum of two days per month and attract a remuneration of £7,404 per annum.
These appointments and extension are made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.
The Social Care Council’s purpose is to raise standards in the social care workforce by registering social workers, social care practioners and social work students, setting standards for their conduct and practice and supporting their professional development.
NISCC Board Members are appointed in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Health & Personal Social Services Act (Northern Ireland) 2001. The Board is made up of a Chair and 8 Non-Executive Members. The Members represent a wide range of interests in the field of social care. Board membership is split equally between Lay, Stakeholder and Registrant Members.
Notes to editors:
- Mr Colin Reid qualified as a social worker in 1987 at Queen’s University Belfast and has worked across a range of roles during his career in the statutory and voluntary sectors and was Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the NSPCC for 20 years. His last substantive post was Head of Safeguarding at the Education Authority before establishing his own safeguarding consultancy in 2025. Colin has a long-standing interest in regulation and has held appointments at the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), the Food Standards Agency and the Optical Registration Board (ROI). He previously served 2 terms on NISCC’s Fitness to Practice Committee and was appointed in 2025 to the Preliminary Proceeding Committee CORU, the health and social care regulator in ROI. Colin is a co-opted member of Disclosure and Barring Service’s Quality, Finance and Performance Committee where he provides a Northern Ireland input into arrangements. He was a previous Vice Chair and Chair of The British Association of Social Workers (BASW NI) from 2014-2020.
- Mr Colm Donaghy has 25 years’ experience working in Health and Social Care. Between 2002 and 2017, he held Chief Executive posts in the Southern Health and Social Services Board, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Northern Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and the Sussex Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, where he oversaw significant service improvements in both hospital and community services. During this time, he led the development of the Northern Ireland Suicide Prevention Strategy, Protect Life, and between 2003 and 2010, he served as Director General of Co‑operating and Working Together, supporting cross‑border collaboration in health services. Following retirement in 2017, Colm has become a Non‑Executive Member of the Simon Community NI Board and holds one other public appointment with TEO as a Lay Commissioner with the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission, which attracts a remuneration of £355 per day or £42 per hour, and has a time commitment of 2-3 days per month.
- Mr Frederick Smyth is a Chartered Accountant and experienced finance consultant with extensive non‑executive experience across the public, voluntary, and private sectors. He has held a range of senior roles in Corporate and Business Banking, leading teams through change, overseeing business performance and risk management. Mr Smyth is an accredited mediator, mentors a range of businesses and seeks to develop collaborative relationships for organisations, and communities. He is a Non-Executive Board member of: Social Finance UK, the charity Include Youth, and a related social enterprise, Viable Limited. His previous roles include serving on the Board of the Children’s Court Guardian Agency NI and acting as Vice‑Chair of the Simon Community. Fred holds two other public appointments: with DfE as a governing body member of North-West Regional College, which attracts remuneration of £250 for a governing body meeting and £150 for a committee meeting, with a time commitment of 1-2 days per month; and with DoH as a Non-Executive Member of the Business Services Organisation, which attracts remuneration of £6,332 with a time commitment of 3 days per month.
- Mr Gerard Guckian MBE, DL, qualified as a solicitor in 1985 and is a partner in a firm in Derry/Londonderry. A longstanding member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland’s Children Order Panel, he has represented children in public law proceedings for more than 25 years. He previously held the positions of: Chair of Altnagelvin Hospital Health and Social Services Trust (2004-2006) and Chair of the Western Health and Social Care Trust (2006-2016). Before these appointments he was also a Non-Executive Director contributing to his extensive experience in health and social care leadership and governance in Northern Ireland. Whilst Chair of Western Trust, he served on and chaired the representatives’ group of the Northern Ireland Confederation of Health and Social Care (NICON). In 2019, Gerry was awarded an MBE for services to Health & Social Care in Northern Ireland. He additionally served as a Trustee of Foyle Hospice from 2018-2025. Gerry is currently interim Chair of NISCC until such time as a substantive Chair can be appointed and holds one other current public appointment; from 2018 he has been a Lay Member of the Safeguarding Board for NI, which attracts remuneration of £7,404 per annum with a time commitment of 2 days per month.
- Appointments to the Northern Ireland Social Care Council are made by the Health Minister.
- 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. All the appointees have declared that they have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.
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