Debate contribution: Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021: Section 26
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 24 February 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021: Section 26
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4813800
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The Domestic Abuse Information-sharing with Schools etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022, which make statutory provision for Operation Encompass, came into operation on 1 April 2022. The regulations were drafted by the Department of Justice in partnership with the Department of Education, the Department for the Economy and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. However, whilst my Department introduced the regulations to provide for Operation Encompass, responsibility for its roll-out sits with the Department of Education and the Education Authority (EA). The EA's child protection support service operates Operation Encompass across all schools through the provision of advisory support, training and information-sharing with the PSNI. I am advised that the scheme is working well and allows staff to provide direct emotional support to child victims of domestic violence. The EA has completed a limited evaluation of the impact of the scheme within the school setting, and it is hoped that that will be shared with partners once it has been approved by the relevant EA governance procedures. Since the commencement of the pilot, there have been over 30,000 referrals to schools across Northern Ireland.
185 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-qualifying 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.54 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-qualifying 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 |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.56 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.23 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.16 |
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.04 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:58 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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