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Mrs Naomi Long: Assembly records
All of Mrs Naomi Long’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
The Department has allocated around £500,000 for 2024-25 to support the deployment of supervising officers whose role it is to engage with TROs to support the assessment and management of their risk. The funding secures supervision officers and administrative staff — six and a half full-time equivalents — from HMPPS.…
In September 2021, my Department established the multi-agency review arrangements, known as MARA, to assess and manage the risks posed by terrorist risk offenders (TROs). That is in line with article 50 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008, which makes provision for the management of offenders who may…
There is, of course, nothing to stop the board doing whatever it wishes to speed up delivery by the injury-on-duty scheme. That is the responsibility of the board, and it is not for me to direct the board on how to implement that scheme or what resources to attach to it. The question that has been asked of me is…
The IMR issue is significant. We have now engaged the service of an external supplier. That allowed the independent medical referee assessment process to commence on 4 March this year. Officials have instructed the supplier to procure additional resources, with a view to resolving the backlog as soon as possible. That…
I understand the point that is being made, but given that the roles and responsibilities of the Policing Board were established by the Patten report, any change is likely to be a cross-cutting matter involving the Executive Office and the Department of Finance and, potentially, requiring amendment to primary and…
Until the four recommendations outlined in the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) report relating to the police injury-on-duty scheme are addressed, I have no plans to remove either the injury-on-duty or ill-health retirement responsibilities from the Northern Ireland Policing Board at this stage. The matter is out…
It is a very important point. The Chief Constable is ultimately operationally responsible to the Policing Board. The Patten arrangements were put in place after considerable thought and sensitivity, and, as Justice Minister, I would be loath to take a wrecking ball to the delicate balances therein. That course of…
It is a decision taken in line with the guidance in the legislation. It clearly says that a Minister, in making a decision to call a public inquiry, must have due regard to what other investigatory mechanisms are available to deal with an issue before proceeding. It is also the case that it would be improper, though…
As I publicly stated to the House on 4 June, I am not ruling out future action and stand ready and willing to support the board in such actions as may be considered necessary. However, at this stage, I remain satisfied that no action on my part is yet required, as the processes of accountability by the Chief…
The effect will depend much on the agreed new minimum age, but it would affect only limited numbers of individuals, as few young children are currently dealt with through the formal justice system, thanks to the work of the Youth Justice Agency (YJA). If the MACR were to be raised to 12, for example, it would have…
I have been very clear about my commitment to raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) in Northern Ireland in order to bring us closer to meeting international standards, including those set by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). At 10 years of age, our current MACR is the lowest in…
One of the great challenges that we have had is being able to determine what burden the new legislative arrangements will place on my Department. While the Government are clear that they believe that the legislation will alleviate some of the pressures that the Department has faced when handling the issues, no…
I deeply regret the fact that I can give such people no consolation, because the matter is outwith the competence of my Department and the Assembly. Responsibility for legacy legislation has been taken by the Westminster Government. They have made their decision that that is the way forward. I have consistently made…
I am already committed to the repeal of the legislation, and I have been clear that that is what, I believe, should happen. We have to look at what has been suggested by Labour Party statements in the round. While Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to repeal the Act if there is a Labour Government following the general…
My Department has had limited engagement to date with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, which was formally established on 1 May. The Commissioner for Investigations, Peter Sheridan, wrote to me in March to update me on the development of the commission and its operating model. In…
The hope is that the videos will serve as a prompt for discussion and learning to be used by EPPOC's delivery partners, engaging with different groups of service users as well as with all schools. They can be integrated into existing programmes, such as those by the Education Authority, Communities in Transition,…
The harms that are most commonly associated with paramilitary gangs are centred around drugs, violence against the person, public order issues and bombing and shooting attacks. What is less obvious is how gangs groom, exploit and harm vulnerable young people to maintain their position in communities through…
Our experience shows us and evidence demonstrates that a high prison population generally results in an increase in tension in the prison setting. Managing prisoners through encouraging positive behaviour becomes more challenging, leading, for example, to increases in assaults and incidents. When we are dealing with a…
I would advise the Member to raise the operational detail of that with the director general. However, no one would have access to security-level information unless they have been adequately cleared to take up that role. Checks are made before people are allocated to the roles that they play in the system. I imagine…
I thank the Member for the opportunity to do so. A number of years ago, when I visited the prisons, one of our staff had helpfully designed a programme to support children with autism or, indeed, neurodiversity to access prison visits better than had been the case in the past. As people will appreciate, family…
The Prisons 25by25 strategic improvement programme captures the Prison Service's ambition for continued development and improvement. The focus of the programme is delivering the best possible service to those in our care and for wider society. Year 2 concluded at the end of March. Achievements included three…
Apologies, Mr Deputy Speaker. I was not sure whether my colleague had indicated that he wished to speak. It is fine. I thank the Members who have spoken today for their engagement. I will address some of the points that were raised during the discussion, particularly those about the cost of insurance premiums in…
I beg to move Thank you, Mr Speaker. At the outset, I advise the Assembly that I have declared a conflict of interest in relation to the personal injury discount rate on account of my husband's membership of a medical defence union. Medical defence unions have an interest in the level of discount rate, as it may…
Given that we are in the situation in which we are, with two years missing from the mandate and very restricted resources, does the Member accept that the fact that we have accelerated provisions to give protection to vulnerable victims, rather than wait for a stand-alone hate crime Bill, should be commended, not…