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Mr Paul Givan: Assembly records
All of Mr Paul Givan’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
My Department has instructed the Education Authority (EA) to undertake urgent remedial health and safety works to the modular building at Maine Integrated Primary School. The works are being scoped and will be delivered as quickly as possible. Drainage, structural and condition surveys of the modular building are…
I thank the Member for his interest in this subject. He is right to draw out comparisons with other jurisdictions. We have looked at those experiences. England put its guidance on a statutory footing. We will now do that through this legislation, which will contain a provision to allow the Education and Training…
I confirm to the Member that I will be seeking to take a power in the legislation to introduce a cap. We have consulted on that. It is important, and I am sure that the Education Committee will look into it. What will be the consequences of a cap? Some evidence suggests that a cap can, at times, suggest a limit for…
I thank the Member for raising this important issue. The timeline is that I will bring the draft Bill to the Executive to seek their agreement to introduce it, and, as soon as that is granted, I will bring it to you, Mr Speaker, and confirm a date for its introduction. Standing Orders allow a minimum number of…
I wrote to my Executive colleagues on 18 November last year setting out the policy proposals underpinning a school uniforms Bill and seeking agreement for my Department to formally engage with the Office of the Legislative Counsel (OLC). I received Executive agreement on 5 December last year. The Bill's underpinning…
Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I thank the Member for South Belfast Paula Bradshaw for securing the Adjournment debate and for setting its tone. It was refreshing to have the conversations that we have engaged in outside the heat of yesterday around specific decisions. Mr O'Toole has left the Chamber, but I was reminded…
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to the motion and the amendment. I begin by placing on record that relationships and sexuality education is an important part of the curriculum, particularly in developing our young people both as well-rounded individuals and contributors to…
When I take decisions on development proposals, I work within a very clear legal framework. Integrated education is defined in the law. I am under a legal duty to encourage, facilitate and support the development of integrated education, and I take that duty extremely seriously. However, I am prohibited legally from…
Today I set out my vision for the most ambitious programme of special educational needs (SEN) reform in a generation, which will see our children and young people with special educational needs truly thriving in education. The challenges around special educational needs provision are well documented and have rightly…
He is nearly in danger of convincing me to vote for this. On the arguments that he has made against the EU based on its support for Israel, we know what People Before Profit stands for. It is against globalisation and all these elitist corporates that rule the world. On that basis, will Gerry Carroll join the DUP in…
Today's democratic consent motion is one of the most significant issues that the Assembly has debated or will ever debate. At one level, it is a complex and complicated matter, but, at another level, it comes down to this very simple question: does the Assembly wish to give away powers and responsibilities that were…
I want to address the Assembly on the important topic of how we can enhance and support the educational experience of our young people through targeted, strategic capital investment in our schools. Investment in the schools estate is not just about how much money we spend but how well we spend it. Today, I am…
That was another successfully negotiated resolution that ended industrial action. Rightly, those support staff, who are some of our most underpaid, campaigned, and we achieved the pay and grading review. That has been a two-stage process, improving the terms and conditions in the pay and grading review. The payment…
If we were to apply the 5·5% that the English body recommended, which has been accepted, it would leave the Department with a shortfall of just over £20 million to bridge the gap. However, the teachers' pay claim is not for 5·5%; it is for 13·5%. It is simply impossible. Members may believe that my Department can…
I thank the Member for her contribution over the years at Laurelhill. I know that it was very much appreciated by the many pupils whom she had in her care. In the October monitoring round, the Department submitted bids of £189 million for resource DEL, nearly £89 million for capital DEL and just over £560,000 for…
I just want to make sure that the processes work. I know about the campaign that Alma has led. She is a constituent of mine. I have been with her, and we have talked through the issues. Many colleagues have been part of that campaign and rightly so, because Caleb's cause is a just one. However, it is about how we give…
That is a hugely important issue, and Members have raised it before. It cuts across a number of Departments. Nineteen is the compulsory age for education for young people with special educational needs. A transition framework then takes place that engages the Department of Health and the Department for the Economy.…
I am more than happy to try to identify ways of extracting as much funding as I can. I will engage with officials about practice that is being deployed in other parts of the United Kingdom so that we maximise the financial resource available to us. We are waiting to see how the Labour Government intend to invest in…
The Executive and the Finance Minister regularly challenge Ministers to make greater use of the financial transactions scheme. It depends, however, on the type of projects that are being taken forward. It is more suitable for housing associations, for example, to take that forward, because, when it comes to borrowing,…
The plan will cover a wide range of issues. It has taken 19 months to carry out the review and pull together the various aspects of special educational needs provision. The Member has highlighted a number of issues that are important, but there is a multiplicity of areas to be addressed. A wide-ranging review has…