Revealed: Tom Bennett was categorised by the Northern Ireland government as “uniquely qualified” to advise it on school behaviour, and thus the position was not advertised

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Tom Bennett, the UK government’s opinion-dividing adviser on school behaviour management and attendance, was appointed to a similar position in Northern Ireland without any tendering process, a Freedom of Information response has disclosed.

Mr Bennett was viewed as “uniquely qualified” by the Northern Ireland government to lead its review of school behaviour policy, and thus normal procurement rules did not apply, the Department of Education (DE) said in its response.

This decision allowed the department to bypass what appear quite stringent rules on public contracting, subject to conditions.