Debate contribution: Education Inspections Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Nick Mathison on 1 June 2026.

MLA

Mr Nick Mathison

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

1 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Education Inspections Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5581454

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I want to respond to the Minister's comments first. The Minister raised a lot of points, and I welcome his offer to engage with the Committee. If there is a mechanism to find the relevant assurances that there will be amendments tabled to clause 3 that are acceptable to the Committee and give teachers the comfort and assurance that they need, I am happy to work with him on that. However, if we cannot find common ground and a compromise position, I am very clear that Alliance absolutely reserves the right to vote the clause down at Consideration Stage, as it is the right of every Member in the Assembly to bring those matters to a Division. The wider comparison of the criminal justice system with our schools is not comparing like with like, and it is not helpful to get into an endless comparison with hospitals or care homes. We are dealing with education settings and schools, and that is where our focus should be.

I will give way.

I thank the Member for his intervention. Yes, we have concerns about that, but that does not mean that we throw the Bill out. I would not like to say that, because we are concerned about that, the Committee cannot work on the RE amendments, which I would love to get right to deal with those issues.

However, as I said, if we cannot find a satisfactory position, we will oppose the clause. I can see no reason why that would not give teachers comfort that there is a process. We can try to improve it, and, if it is not capable of being improved, we can vote it down.

When we consider clause 3, there are, of course, broader policy concerns that are not just to do with the text of the Bill. We are looking at years of incredibly challenging industrial relations, and the fears highlighted by Mr Carroll come out of that context. Teachers rightly and understandably feel concern that the clause is in some way being used as a weapon to threaten them to curtail their right to take industrial action, and there is a sense that the Bill can read as being rather tone-deaf to the fragile industrial relations in the education system at this time. My concern is that, at this time, clause 3 could serve only to damage industrial relations, and, for that reason alone, Alliance retains serious concerns about the capacity of clause 3 to proceed. Teachers are at breaking point, and the Minister should be focused on working to deliver an effective and serious response to the independent review of teacher workload. This legislation is ultimately a blunt instrument. I 100% believe that inspection is a critical part of the accountability structures in our schools, and we all want to see inspections proceeding regardless of industrial action. Indeed, many of the trade unions have made their position clear and said that they would be reluctant to support such action, given that the new ETI regime has been rolled out much more positively and engagement with schools has largely been seen as a positive intervention. There is a question in my mind about whether there is even an intention to include inspection in any future industrial action.

I am not here to speak for the trade unions, but we need to be realistic about the more positive context that we find ourselves in with the ETI regime.

I will give way after I finish making the point. I am happy to take interventions. We are looking at what is potentially a very blunt instrument. While I want to see inspections proceeding, we are at risk of seeing an intervention that will do more harm than good in the system. If the legislation drives further industrial conflict and energises and motivates unions to fight harder against the issues that they see in the system because there is a sense that it is being weaponised in some way, I do not see how that is good for the system. We should try to find a way through the workload challenges, and that is best done through dialogue, engagement and getting the recommendations of the independent review of workload over the line quickly and in a way that teachers feel on the ground. I will take an intervention from Mr Brooks and then Mr Buckley.

730 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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