Debate contribution: Respite Provision for Adults with Learning Difficulties, Complex Needs and Challenging Behaviour
Debate contribution by Mrs Deborah Erskine on .
- MLA
- Mrs Deborah Erskine
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 21 October 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Respite Provision for Adults with Learning Difficulties, Complex Needs and Challenging Behaviour
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4604260
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The importance of adequate short-break provision for families and the most vulnerable cannot be stressed enough by those in the Chamber today. It should not be treated as an added extra. I thank those who tabled the motion. For our part, we have included an issue that, sadly, we see too many times as constituency MLAs, which is the removal of services from one trust to another. With the motion, we must recognise and be honest about the situation for carers. Sadly, many of us in the Chamber have dealt with parents in tears who are barely coping, as they have no respite for their children. It is difficult. The children are in their twenties, thirties and forties, yet their parents and carers are completely broken. Unfortunately, we have to be honest that our system has done that to those parents. There is, naturally, a great love for the people whom they care for, but, some days, it is all too much. We owe our carers such a great deal of gratitude. They save our health service £5·8 billion a year. In my constituency, as has already been referenced, £8 million is saved because unpaid but compassionate people work 24/7 and sacrifice everything to care for the person they love. It does not negate the fact that there are massive challenges in our system. Demand is outstripping supply, and the number of complex cases has increased. Therefore, it is important that strategies such as the children with disability framework and the work stream are finalised soon and the findings implemented as soon as possible. Perhaps the Minister can provide an overview of where that is at the moment. Furthermore, can he outline what the learning disability service model will plan to do to achieve more help and support for the families, children and adults whom we are discussing today? Recently, we saw the challenges that exist when caring for a loved one. As has been referred to in the Chamber today, the 'Spotlight' programme, 'I Am Not Okay' was a difficult, brave and challenging watch. It highlighted the situations that families face. The toll that it takes physically and psychologically is immense. If the people who represent the £5·8 billion that is saved in care across Northern Ireland were to stop with immediate effect, the difficulties that are cited by every trust and Department today would be much greater. That is why we owe it to them to do something here and now. We need effective reporting in trust areas around capacity and activity. We know that because the all-party group on carers tried to find some evidence in relation to capacity and activity reporting. I believe that there is also an attitudinal problem. In my trust area, I have tried for some time to have individual meetings on the issue, and it took some time to get information and for those meetings to happen. There is an unspoken truth that carers will continue to bear the brunt of burnout and caring responsibilities because it is a loved one that they care for. That is true to a certain extent, but, in the many circumstances that I deal with, carers are becoming patients themselves, and they need help fast. Respite and short breaks provision can, at times, be so finely balanced, and, in my constituency, I have seen too many times short breaks pulled at the last minute because of staff shortages and sickness. Furthermore, short-break beds should be ring-fenced for exactly that purpose. How have we got to a scenario where short-break beds are being repurposed? Can the Minister indicate how many have been repurposed in the last year? Commissioning of services must be forward-thinking and not done on an ad hoc basis, which it often feels like. There should not be a postcode lottery in the service provision for families, which, again, I see all too often. If you need treatment or healthcare provision, you deserve to get it no matter where you live. It is a massive issue, and it will not be easily solved, but I trust that those in the House this evening will support our amendment, which would bring greater focus —
— on ending the siloed approach in trusts.
706 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 (0.97).
- 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.97 | 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 11:26 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.