Debate contribution: Programme for Government: Public Consultation
Debate contribution by Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly on .
- MLA
- Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 9 September 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Ministerial Statement
- Heading
- Programme for Government: Public Consultation
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4511249
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for her question. Of course, tackling poverty is important. She will see that, throughout the Programme for Government, we have the aspiration to ensure that everyone can reach their full potential, and that must, of course, mean supporting people and tackling poverty, should that be financial poverty or educational underachievement. I welcome the actions we have taken so far: £20 million towards tackling educational underachievement. However, we also felt it was important to have key priorities in the Programme for Government to tackle inequalities where they are most acutely felt. For example, on health inequalities, waiting lists and ill health, we know that far more people on lower incomes have chronic illnesses in their early fifties and have worse health outcomes. I am standing beside the Communities Minister, and I am sure he has heard your question loud and clear. We have a statutory responsibility and obligation to bring forward the anti-poverty strategy. I know that he is actively working on that, and it will align with some of the key priorities identified in the Programme for Government. We have a determination to ensure that, as the First Minister has indicated, everyone is lifted up by tackling such things as affordable and social housing, waiting lists, support for hard-pressed families with affordable childcare, growing the economy and providing better jobs for people, which are all ways to lift people out of poverty. We need to do that collectively as an Executive.
245 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 (0.71).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.71 | 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.76 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.13 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.06 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.03 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:58 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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