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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 qualifying, uncertain or not yet analysed.
The Member is right to raise that issue. It has been raised with me when I have visited schools. At Carr Primary School in my constituency, the principal indicated that the school had expressed an interest in provision but the EA did not follow that through; indeed, it was indicated that it may not have been a…
It is an issue that has been raised with me when I have been out visiting schools. The approach, with which Members will be familiar, is that other schools receive a delegated budget under the local management of schools (LMS) arrangements. Special schools do not get that, because they are directly funded. The costs…
When I came into post a number of months ago, I immediately recognised that there was severe pressure on the provision of placements for September, so we set about a piece of work that resulted in engaging directly with schools. Some 200 schools came forward to say, "We are willing to provide a placement in…
Today, I will set out my vision for the development of school facilities to support our children with special educational needs (SEN) across Northern Ireland. The profile of our children is changing. One in five children has a special educational need, and some of those children require specialist places in a special…
I am on the Back Benches, which are much more comfortable than the Front Bench, although Mr Nesbitt is keen to get to the Front Bench. It is more comfortable here, Mike; trust me. However, the challenge is always better on the Front Bench. I thank Sorcha Eastwood for securing the Adjournment debate. It is tricky for…
I agree with the Chairman of the Committee that we ought to engage with children and young people in relation to this area, and we do. I will further outline how we do that. I thank the Chairman of the Committee for the respectful manner in which he engaged in the debate and for the way in which he conducted himself,…
Uncertain: close callGender, sexuality, abortion and related social issuesCriteria met: Dog-whistle messaging.
I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to today's motion. Education in Northern Ireland faces massive challenges. The budgetary challenges are enormous. While we have secured a pay settlement for teachers, the situation with support staff remains unresolved. The maintenance backlog for schools continues to grow,…
I thank everyone for participating in the debate on the regulations. I thank the Chair of the Committee for Education for the work of the Committee and his kind remarks in commending the Department for taking a lead in the area. The other Members who commented quite rightly highlighted the importance of making sure…
I beg to move I am pleased to bring the draft regulations to the Assembly for approval. The regulations will be made under powers conferred by the Period Products (Free Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. Before I turn to the regulations themselves, I will take a moment to reflect on the enormous benefits of the…
It allows schools to develop. In my constituency, I can think of one primary school in the village where I lived, Maghaberry, where we moved from a seven-class base school. Enrolment was increasing as the population grew, and we had to move to providing composite classes. That was the only way to allow the school to…
The Member is absolutely right. When we think about support staff, we are talking about some of the lowest-paid workers in the public sector, and yet they are delivering vital services — your classroom assistants, cooks and bus drivers. The action short of a strike in this area has been having a detrimental impact on…
Obviously, the process was that a business case had to be put forward. I can confirm that the Department of Finance has approved the business case, so that is a significant development. It is now subject to funding being made available through the Budget process. I want to see that being successful. I have been…
I always, particularly when an MLA asks me to facilitate a meeting, seek to accommodate that. If the Member wants me to do that, I am happy to do so. The reassurance that I have provided to all of the schools impacted by Fresh Start is that they have been moved into my conventional programme and continue to advance.…
All of that is subject to capital funding being made available. I have outlined the significant number of major capital schemes that are currently in my Department. I have highlighted the inadequacy of the resources available not only to fund major new-builds but to fund enhancement programmes, to tackle the…
I assure the Member that that forms part of my bid to the Department of Finance for the budget settlement for this financial year. I have met the unions and indicated my support for resolving the pay and grading review issue. That is separate from the pay settlements, because those workers are part of a national joint…
Yes, a business case was submitted to the Department of Finance. The Education Authority provided information to the Department of Education. That business case was sent on to the Department of Finance, but the EA subsequently contacted us to say that the information was not correct. That delayed the process, but my…
I will have officials look into the area of procurement and at whether there is a level of expenditure, albeit a small level, that schools can manage themselves, without having to go through the EA. I am open to that, because, if it can be more cost-effective and delivered in a timelier fashion, we should consider…
Principals have raised that issue with me, particularly with regard to the small amounts of money that are needed for projects in a school for which they have to go through an EA procurement system. That system is meant to deliver savings, because of the economy of scale that can be delivered by doing it through the…
Obviously, I want to retain people in the workforce. That is part of the business case for the pay and grading review for support staff, and that includes classroom assistants and the other people in the workforce. I want to see that taken forward. That will assist in trying to retain staff, but we also need to…
That is not unique to Newry and Armagh. Having the appropriate workforce available is an issue for all our constituencies, and that is a challenge. The challenges are the terms and conditions that the staff operate to and attracting people into the workforce when we have a growing private sector that offers better…
I am happy to follow up with the Member in more detail on the matter, but I will add a little more information on some of the areas in the provision of Irish-medium education that we are working on. The Middletown Centre for Autism, for example, provides workforce training, online resources and sessions for parents in…
There is a benefit to being drawn to ask a question and then asking a topical question to follow up and tease the issue out. Again, I am aware of the specific challenges in the Irish-medium education sector around SEN provision and the support and resources that are currently available and what is further needed. That…
I can. Mr Dunne, a Member for North Down, has pressed me vociferously on the need for capital investment for those schools. I have already engaged with the UK Government. The Executive collectively continue to raise a needs-based approach to the funding from Treasury. They have yet to provide the proper baseline,…
I, of course, want to advance a major capital programme across the school estate not just for Bangor Central Integrated but for all those schools. Over 100 major capital programmes were announced back in 2010: 35 of them are complete; and nine are in that contractual committed zone. That gives you a quantum of well…
The approval on 5 March 2024 of the planning application for the Bangor Central Integrated Primary School project is a major milestone on the road to its delivery. It marks the completion of the planning and design stages. As with the other former Fresh Start projects that have now transferred into my Department's…