Debate contribution: Preschool Admissions: Socially Disadvantaged Circumstances Criterion

Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on 7 September 2026.

MLA

Mr Paul Givan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

7 September 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

Preschool Admissions: Socially Disadvantaged Circumstances Criterion

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5670279

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member for those comments. She is right to highlight the work in rural areas in particular and the importance of those settings to communities. We must make sure that the benefits accrue everywhere in Northern Ireland. We are taking a number of measures, but one is to increase the value per child in the funding to settings. Again, I am looking at those figures, and, on average, we have been able to increase funding by £2,500 for each setting. That builds on increases that we have already provided and will assist them. We have put in additional funding to preschool settings to assist children with additional needs who still have not gone through the statementing process. I know that that funding has been a real benefit to them. We also have the draft early learning and childcare strategy, which I intend to bring back to the Executive in due course. When I came into office two years ago, people were demanding a strategy. I got on with delivering substance by setting up a childcare subsidy scheme that brought real, meaningful and tangible benefits that were worth tens of millions of pounds. Too often, in this place and other Departments, people talk about policy and strategy and set up reviews. They then review the reviews, but they still cannot take decisions. That has not been the case in this Department. We have taken decisions. My party said that we would prioritise hard-working families, and that is exactly what we have been doing.

I do. The Member is absolutely right that hard-working families should not be disadvantaged or discriminated against. That is exactly what has happened on this issue. When it comes to public services and the provision of support, too often, those who just about break even or are just above the entitlement to benefits are the ones who endure the most disadvantage and find things most difficult. Never again should they be forgotten. Certainly, for my part and the DUP's part, we will stand with them.

Every day in my constituency, I help young people and families who face difficulty, and we have prioritised support for them by extending Sure Start. That has allowed an additional 4,300 children to receive more support. We have expanded the pathway fund, which has enabled a further 4,700 children to benefit from high-quality early years provision. We have also expanded the Toybox programme, which helps Traveller children, Roma children and newcomer children. There are other schemes as well. This is not a case of either/or. I have made sure that those who are in need and come from disadvantaged backgrounds get support, but that cannot continue to be to the exclusion of other disadvantaged children. That is why we have removed the criterion today.

The Member makes a point for me about local communities trying to access their nearest setting. The problem with the criterion was that children and people from outside the locality were able to choose ahead of the local community, unless someone was in receipt of the benefits that the EA had read into it. If the Member truly supports communities in rural areas being able to access their nearest preschool setting or nursery provision, she will see that removing that criterion will help them do so. She should support the removal rather than be critical of it. This is a good-news announcement. It is a decisive decision that backs hard-working families. For too long, they have been neglected and disadvantaged. Today, we put that right when it comes to preschool settings.

I can tell the Member, on the basis of advice that we received, that the current criterion that was being applied was very much at risk of a successful legal challenge because of the way in which it discriminated against hard-working families. Therefore, the lawfulness of retaining that criterion is no longer there. I have acted today to make sure that only the benefits that are in the legislation are used, which means that we have significantly reduced the ability of those who may have used the current entitlement that the EA was reading into the criterion to do so. Should a future Minister decide to reinstate the criterion, they would be very likely to receive a legal challenge. On the basis of the legal advice that I have received, they would find that position difficult to defend. That is not to say that you may not get such a case and have to go through that process, but, based on the basis of the legal advice that I have received, I am clear that the decision that I have taken is the right one. I gently say to the Member, as I said in my statement — I welcome his support for it — that a direct rule Minister would not have done this. Had there not been devolution, a childcare subsidy scheme would not have been established and put in place in the way in which the Assembly and I, as Minister, have done. A direct rule Minister would not have taken the decision that I have taken today to benefit his hard-working families and constituents. That is why I support devolution warts and all, despite all the problems that it certainly has. Under devolution, there are occasions when a local Minister can take decisions that will benefit the people of Northern Ireland, and that is what I have done today.

I thank the Member for her support for the changes. The pupil figure has gone up. A lot of providers have indicated to me the financial pressures that they are under. Despite the difficult financial pressures that I am under in the Department, we have increased the funding for the voluntary and community sector, which is part of the preschool education programme. It is at a slight disadvantage as against the statutory nursery setting, which is why we have sought to increase the funding that it is in receipt of. The Chairman of the Committee asked me earlier about the penultimate year age in the statutory setting, which is those who are able to access statutory nursery schools two years before they come in. That is a challenge and a real difficulty. As we see a declining birth rate, we have an increasing number of nursery settings in which children are getting access to that, which creates a challenge in the system. The draft early learning childcare strategy states that there will be a consultation on that, because that is a legislative provision. If we were to remove the legislative requirement to allow the admission of penultimate age children, the law would need to change in that respect. That is not something that I am able to do today. The merits or otherwise of doing so are open for debate. That is an issue in the draft strategy, and it is something that we may have to return to in the next mandate.

1,160 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 01:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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