Member's statement: SEN Places
Member's statement by Mr Danny Baker on .
- MLA
- Mr Danny Baker
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 8 September 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- SEN Places
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5067990
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I stand here to be a voice for children with special educational needs, who continue to be left behind. Before the recess, I tried everything that I could to have the Minister of Education come to the House and communicate to families his plan for children who did not have placements. Before we went into the recess, the number of such children was in the hundreds, and that is what the headlines were about. Today, we could say, "The number is down to single digits, and that shows some sort of improvement", but the detail is in the weeds, because hundreds of those children will not be in school this week because their place is not ready. Sadly, some of those who were lucky enough to get placements were left at home this week because of transport issues. This happens year-on-year. My first speech in the Chamber was about the need to prioritise special educational needs and early interventions, and I hoped that we would see improvements, but, unfortunately, we have not. That is simply not fair. It is not fair on those children, who are always left behind. We must ask these questions: why are they not being prioritised? Why do we not have a SEN-first approach to placements? Why, in 2025, do we not invest in high-tech IT for transport, given that a small number of staff are still working with pens and pieces of paper to map out routes? That is simply not good enough, and it shows where the priorities lie, which is certainly not with children with additional needs. I will quickly make a wee point about one of my cases, because it maps out the journey that children will have if we do not take this seriously and start prioritising those children. Seeing a set of twins start at nursery should be the happiest time for a parent and grandparents. In one of my cases, one twin has additional needs, and the other, who is in the mainstream, does not. Guess who got the nursery place. The wee child with additional needs watches his sibling go off to school, and the child who probably needs the most interventions and the most support is left behind. If we do not see change — if the Minister and the chief executive of the Education Authority do not get real on this — this is how that child's life will map out: come P1, their placement will be an issue, as it will be in the next transition year, when they go into first year. They will also have transport issues. Their parent will fight tooth and nail for support for that child, while the other child goes through the education system almost seamlessly. We need to stop that. We need an inclusive education system for all children. It is we who can deliver that. I want to work with the Minister and everybody in the House to make that a reality, but it will happen only if it is prioritised.
504 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: 0.05 (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 | 0.07 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.94 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.05 | 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 12:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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