Debate contribution: Oakridge Social Education Centre, Dungannon.
Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on .
- MLA
- Mr Robbie Butler
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 13 October 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Adjournment
- Heading
- Oakridge Social Education Centre, Dungannon.
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5790042
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the Member for tabling this important Adjournment topic. I hope that, after over 10 years in this place, I have some reputation for having a passion not just for people with learning disabilities but for equitable provision and access to services for anybody who has a learning disability or a physical disability. We are absolutely out of kilter, and there is a lot of work to do. I will address the issue in two parts. First, I will give you the response. Unfortunately, I will not be giving you good news, except to say that, as the Minister, these are the projects that I am significantly interested in. Every Minister gets the opportunity to bring their particular passion and vision to the job, but I want to be honest with people. I do not want to overpromise and under-deliver, but I can see clearly where change needs to be effected. We need to be honest in our conversations but also to look at the art of the possible as we move forward, because, as Deborah rightly pointed out, we will be measured by the way in which we treat our most vulnerable. That statement was penned by someone who is a lot cleverer than us, but it is the lived reality that we, as legislators, should take very seriously. I thank you for the opportunity, Colm. I know that this is an important issue for the Members who are in the Chamber, and each of you has credibility in this space. As a former social worker, Colm, you know well what it is like at the coalface. More importantly, however, we are having this discussion in the interests of service users, their families and the carers who support them. They deserve a clear account of where the project stands and what must happen next. This is not simply about an estate or a project in a capital plan; it is about the environment in which adults with complex needs receive care and support and in which dedicated staff work every day. Is the present accommodation suitable for the long term? No, absolutely not. Is there a clear case for improved facilities? Absolutely, yes. Can I responsibly commit funding before the Executive Budget position and the full costs are clear? No; I have to be fiscally responsible. There is no doubt that there would be significant benefit in developing new adult social care facilities in the Southern Trust area, and the trust itself has put that front and centre of its priorities. It is one of the trust's many priorities.
Indeed, at this point, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the excellent work that staff have been doing in delivering the best possible services in the current facilities. Their dedication ensures that the highest standards of care and support are provided to those with complex learning disabilities and associated physical care needs. Whilst I recognise the case for investment, I must also be clear about the significant capital and revenue constraints facing the Department at present. Those mean that the timing of any further progress on the project will depend on the capital funding allocated to the Department of Health through the ongoing Budget process and on confirmation that capital costs and any associated recurring costs are affordable and sustainable. The Oakridge centre is a statutory day-care facility, as has been mentioned, that supports around 28 adults with complex learning disabilities and associated physical care needs across the wider Dungannon area. The centre provides programmes tailored to individual needs, from support with daily living to community participation, with the aim of promoting choice, independence and health and well-being. That person-centred approach is fundamental to adult social care, and I want to see that delivered across Northern Ireland, not just in Dungannon. The site includes an intensive support unit for people with complex medical and nursing needs, and the bespoke Little Oaks unit. The range of needs supported by Oakridge means that the physical environment must be safe, accessible and flexible enough to respond to people as their circumstances change. The services being provided are consistent with the direction of travel outlined in the draft learning disability service model, which emphasises meaningful day opportunities that promote greater choice and control, independence, health and well-being, and participation in the community. We all know of the proposed project. I know that Members in the Chamber will be well aware of it. It is important to understand the context. The Oakridge centre has served the local community for many years from its current location on the Drumglass site. However, the building was not purpose-built for that role, having originally been constructed as a sanatorium in 1916, so 110 years ago. Estate assessments and recommendations from the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) found that the current accommodation is no longer suitable. Mobile units were added to ease capacity pressures, but they were never a long-term answer. They do not remove the need for a coherent facility designed around the people who use it. In 2019, and this is a big jump, the Southern Health and Social Care Trust submitted an outline business case for a new 42-place statutory day-care unit in Dungannon. That replacement facility would support a modern, flexible and accessible environment for providing person-centred services to individuals with varying care needs. Since then, the project has remained under active consideration in the wider context of capital planning, affordability and the need to prioritise investment across the health and social care estate. Over that time, rising construction costs have had a significant impact on affordability. The estimated cost of the scheme has increased from £8·1 million to £12·7 million. That reflects the wider inflationary pressures, and we know that when these things go to procurement and tender, sometimes that fiscal pressure reality can get worse. I understand the frustration, felt most keenly by service users, about the time that this has taken when the service could have been better, and that is absolutely accepted. However, it is also a credit to those who provide the support in the unit that they have. Service users, their families and the staff who support them have waited a long time for greater capacity and certainty. They are entitled to ask why a recognised need has not yet resulted in a new facility, and I do not dismiss that frustration. However, as I said, my Department's ability to commit funding to new capital projects across the whole health and social care estate will depend on the final capital allocation from the Department of Finance and the ongoing Budget process. It is important to distinguish between approval in principle and a funded commitment to deliver. A project may have a strong service case, but the Department can only proceed where funding is available and where recurrent consequences can be met on a sustainable basis. That approach is necessary to ensure that we do not create commitments that cannot be delivered. As part of the Budget 2026 exercise, trusts and other arm's-length bodies of the Department have identified capital funding requirements of over £3 billion for the next four years. The capital funding of around £1·8 billion that has been indicated will be received over that Budget period will be sufficient only to meet inescapable pressures and existing commitments that are there and outlined in the 10-year plan. The Department must balance new investment against the need to maintain existing services, address safety and statutory requirements, replace ageing infrastructure, support digital resilience and progress projects that are already significantly advanced.
To be absolutely clear, I want a number of really important schemes — Oakridge in particular — to succeed and to do so within the expected time frame, but I urge Members to use their influence to help secure the necessary capital funding to deliver them. I do not need to remind Members, although I will, that we are in negotiations with the Secretary of State and Treasury about a fair funding model for Northern Ireland. It is projects such as this that I would like to take to the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister in those negotiations to make the case for that Budget deal and to get some certainty around it so that my Executive colleagues and I can agree a Budget for this place to help us move forward. I fully understand that Members will wish to press for certainty on individual schemes, particularly where there is a well-established local need. I acknowledge that Mid Ulster District Council has particular concerns about Oakridge. I also understand why families may find discussions of business cases and capital planning remote from their daily experience, but those processes exist for us in reality in the Chamber, sadly. I will not give a commitment today that the Department may not be able to fund tomorrow, because it always comes back to the budget and the funding portfolio within which we work. Once the Executive have agreed a Budget, however, that will allow the Department of Health to develop a capital investment plan that will set out the projects to be taken forward in the next 10 years. The Department will continue to work with trusts to ensure that the business case position remains capable of being urgently updated when the funding position allows. It is probably a piece of work for the trust and its commissioning services to look again at the business case that was identified a number of years ago to ensure that it is fit for purpose and ready to go if a budget ever arrives. In conclusion, I make it clear that I recognise the need for improved accommodation at Oakridge. The building is old, was not designed for its current purpose and puts real limitations on the delivery of a service that people so badly deserve. I must also make it clear, however, that the Department cannot commit to progressing the project until the wider budget allocation is confirmed and capital and revenue affordability has been established. My time has run out, I think, but I am happy to take any other questions in the Member's winding-up speech. The Member knows that I am passionate about projects like this, but they are determined by budget, unfortunately.
1,722 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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