Member's statement: Community Transport Week
Member's statement by Ms Kellie Armstrong on .
- MLA
- Ms Kellie Armstrong
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 15 October 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Community Transport Week
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4592450
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I congratulate all community transport operators across Northern Ireland as part of Community Transport Week. As many Members who have listened to me long enough will know, I worked in community transport for a couple of decades before I came to the House, so it is only right and fitting that I congratulate my former colleagues and friends. The theme of Community Transport Week is to celebrate community solutions, and I can honestly say that the Community Transport Association (CTA) provides community solutions. Some people think that it is a statutory organisation and a statutory provider of transport. It is not. The Community Transport Association is made up of a number of organisations, led by volunteers who provide transport in their own communities. I encourage all Members, if they can, to reach out this week to their local community transport provider. There are over 100 community transport groups across Northern Ireland. Some receive funding from the Department for Infrastructure to provide the Dial-a-Lift service, while others do not. Those others include the Churches, Scout groups, football clubs and GAA clubs. They are across Northern Ireland, all adding in their own way to helping and supporting people to get access to services across their communities. That is what they do. They provide a lift to the hairdresser's, take people shopping and get older folk out of the house. They make sure that people with disabilities, including wheelchair users, have access to local services. They are often pressurised into doing a lot of hospital transport runs, which take the vehicles out of the local community. It can cause a bit of an issue and a bit of tension when some people really want their community transport driver to take them to an appointment that can sometimes be emotional and stressful. I hope that, in the future, the Department of Health will reconsider its contracting method to enable community transport to be funded to help provide those services. Today, I would really like to thank Armagh Rural Transport, CDM Community Transport, the Down Armagh Rural Transport (DART) Partnership, Easilink Community Transport, Fermanagh Community Transport, Lagan Valley Rural Transport, Newry and Mourne Community Transport, North Coast Community Transport, Out and About Community Transport, South Antrim Community Transport and, in my own area, Down Community Transport. In the urban areas, I will not forget the Disability Action transport scheme and, up in the north-west, Bridge Accessible Transport. Those people give up their time to make sure that others have access to services. They provide more than a transport service, as they play a pivotal role in communities. I remind all that they are drivers who go to the door and who find out whether Mrs Smith or Mr Jones is well. They are drivers who care for people. They make sure that they are OK and can get out and access services. Community transport prevents loneliness, and it is one of the building blocks that enables communities to exist. Thank you so much to all our community transport providers across Northern Ireland.
507 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).
- 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 | 0.03 | 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 | 0.44 | No |
| 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 | 0.98 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 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.
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