Debate contribution: Statutory Assessments: Parental Referrals
Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Givan
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 26 February 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Statutory Assessments: Parental Referrals
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4230902
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The Education Authority (EA) has not changed the process for parental referrals for statutory assessments. Article 20 of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 clearly sets out the duty on the Education Authority to comply with a request from a parent or carer to arrange an assessment of special educational needs (SEN) for a child. Following the introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, the emergent code of practice asks that the Education Authority provide a standard pro forma for referral for use by a relevant party. The Education Authority launched the standard pro forma in May 2021 via an online portal. That is for schools, health professionals, educational psychologists and parents or carers to access in their capacity as a relevant party to a child and to request or refer a child for a statutory assessment of special educational needs. That process remains live online for all the relevant parties to access, with specific support available via the Education Authority's special educational needs helpline or from the Education Authority's psychology service for those parents or carers who wish to progress a direct request for assessment for their child.
194 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.73).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-qualifying threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.73 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.97 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:42 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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