Member's statement: Brighter Futures
Member's statement by Mrs Deborah Erskine on .
- MLA
- Mrs Deborah Erskine
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 8 April 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Brighter Futures
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4481007
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Today, I want to bring the Assembly's attention to the loss of a vital autism service, Brighter Futures, in my constituency. It supported children aged 0-12 years presenting with autism. Upwards of 30 families were supported by the project, which was run by the charity Positive Futures. Before Easter, I met a group of parents, along with the CEO of Positive Futures and staff from Brighter Futures. The need for the service was evident, as was the impact that its loss would have on families and, importantly, children. The stories of the impact that the service had in Fermanagh were incredible. Brighter Futures was originally a five-year project funded by the National Lottery and some Western Health and Social Care Trust funding. The programme finished the five-year cycle in 2022, and I attended the winding-up event. However, fortunately, further money was found by Positive Futures to keep it running for a further two years. That funding stream, like many others in the community and voluntary sector, has dried up. Where does that leave families? It leaves them at breaking point, unable to access in any way the same support through our broken NHS system. Scores of families who have children with autism, ASD and ADHD again have no social worker in place to give them support going forward. It raises the question of how we are in this situation in 2024, because we should support the most vulnerable in society. The crux of the matter is that Brighter Futures provided a service that was cost-effective and able to provide better outcomes. An independent evaluation of the service completed by Professor Roy McConkey from Ulster University not only evidenced the positive impact of the service but recommended that it should be rolled out across Northern Ireland. We talk of invest-to-save when it comes to our health service: here is a prime example of that, but, without the willingness in Departments to realise this, such services are lost. Today, we are at the end of World Autism Acceptance Week, and it saddens me that we have failed those people. We need to take a reality check. Speaking recently about the service to a local newspaper, one parent said that nothing was impossible because Brighter Futures always looked for the possible in everything.
I hope that, today, we all take that message on board for the sake of my constituents in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
402 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.94).
- 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-flagging 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 | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.94 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging 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 | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:53 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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