26.—(1) The Department may determine that two or more institutions of further education under the management of a board shall be amalgamated to form a single new institution of further education (in this Part referred to as “the new institution”).
(2) Before issuing any determination under this Article affecting any institutions of further education, the Department shall consult—
(a)the governing bodies of those institutions;
(b)the board by which those institutions are managed; and
(c)such bodies as appear to the Department to be representative of—
(i)persons employed by a board to work at those institutions;
(ii)students for whom education is provided at those institutions.
(3) A determination under this Article providing for the amalgamation of two or more institutions of further education shall specify the date (referred to in Article 27 as “the implementation date”) on which the amalgamation is to take effect.
(4) For the purposes of this Article and Article 27 an institution of further education is affected by a determination under this Article if, and only if, it is one of the institutions which are to be amalgamated in pursuance of the determination.
(5) References in this Article and Article 27 to an institution of further education include references to a technical secondary school conducted in association with that institution.