Debate contribution: Special Educational Needs Provision: North Antrim
Debate contribution by Mr Paul Frew on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Frew
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 19 November 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Adjournment
- Heading
- Special Educational Needs Provision: North Antrim
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4666460
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for North Antrim, Colin Crawford, for securing the Adjournment debate and bringing the issue to the Education Minister's attention. We all grapple with the issue of SEN provision not only in our constituency of North Antrim but across Northern Ireland, as the number of children needing special educational support grows. The first point that I want to make is that we will try to support those children as best we can. Society demands it of us. It is also demanded of society. A number of factors really worry me about the number of children whose parents require and are trying to obtain statements and the demand that the Education Authority needs to meet that it has not been able to meet. It is clear that it is failing those young people and their families. We all deal with such families, who are pulling their hair out. They not only know their children's needs and requirements — they know them best — but are fraught with worry when they let them go out in the mornings, because they know that the provision and support that the school should be able to offer to look after their children is simply not met. That should give us all nightmares. It certainly gives those parents nightmares. The parents then come to us, and we try to deal with the Education Authority. I am sure that I am not the only MLA who feels that he is being stonewalled by the Education Authority. That may be tactical on its part. Have other Members had the experience of writing to the Education Authority simply to ask for information, only to be placed in a formal complaints process that they did not require? I do not want to be in a formal complaints process, and nor do the family; they just want answers. They want to know when and why: "When will the general assistance be there? Why do I have only 15 hours? Why not 24 hours or full time?". Instead of answering those questions, the Education Authority puts them into a formal complaints process, and they have to wait for the Education Authority to come back and say, "We have looked at our procedures. Everything seems to be right. Your complaint is not upheld". We do not want to be in a complaints process; we just want communication and answers. I believe that the Education Authority uses its complaints process as a tactic in order not to engage with elected representatives and the people whom we support. That is blatantly wrong. It is really wrong for the Education Authority to take that avenue. Of course, people can go to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman, but, because the Education Authority has ticked all its boxes and gone through its processes correctly, that will have no prospect of success either. Quite simply, you are then complaining about the process rather than the failure to help a child. The tactic of using that formal complaints process is a complete deflection by the Education Authority, and it is absolutely wrong. I want to know what policy the Education Authority uses to measure an individual child so that it arrives at an outcome of 15 hours of general assistance, 24 hours of general assistance or no general assistance. I want to know what policy it uses that is so robust that it can estimate an individual child's needs and requirements. I have yet to see the formal policy that it uses to make those decisions. I thank the Minister of Education. I believe that he is listening and that he has a grasp of the scale of the problem. Since he has been in post, he has endeavoured to resolve the issues. This is not an issue that has come on his watch, but I can see that he is prepared to try to resolve it in his time. I thank the Minister for attending with me schools in North Antrim of late, namely William Pinkerton Memorial Primary School in Dervock and Ballymoney High School. The Minister will know that there are a couple more in the pipeline for him to attend. I know that the Minister has also attended other schools in North Antrim at the invitation of other MLAs and, in some cases, due to the pressing needs of principals. The Education Authority is letting down not only children and parents but principals. Principals are pulling their hair out because they also want answers as to how the Education Authority can come up with results and assessments of what child needs what general assistance, be that 15 hours or more. They cannot get answers to the same questions; in fact, pressure is applied on those principals when they try to fight for their children. Some of the cases are severe. Some of the children face severe challenges daily. Some of the conditions are even life-limiting. Principals and teachers are extremely concerned that they do not get support from the Education Authority when it comes to looking after those children. That alarms them, but it also alarms parents. We need to get a grip of the situation for the sake of the children.
869 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: 0.04 (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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.94 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | 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 | 0.99 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| 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 11:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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