Debate contribution: Storm Resilience and Infrastructure Preparedness

Debate contribution by Mr Nick Mathison on 20 October 2025.

MLA

Mr Nick Mathison

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

20 October 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Storm Resilience and Infrastructure Preparedness

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5188960

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I will speak on the issue from an education perspective, as schools are referred to specifically in the motion. My colleagues will cover some of the wider issues. I made a Member's statement on the handling of school closures during storm Amy, and much of what I will say today will reflect those comments. I want, however, to correct the record. I said in my statement that an amber weather warning was in place from 1 October. It has since been drawn to my attention that, in fact, a yellow warning was issued at that stage, with the amber warning not kicking in until the evening before the storm. That undoubtedly impacted on the planning considerations that would have been in play in the EA, so I feel it important to put that on record, as EA officials raised that issue with me directly. If you err on a point of fact, it is important to note that. As Members have already said, the motion refers to "delayed and inconsistent messages" being delivered to schools about closures as a result of storm Amy. I concur that lessons need to be learned. Pupil and staff safety is key, of course. Robbie Butler highlighted the critical issue of the risk to life that is associated with storms. That must always be the priority when we consider such matters. It cannot be denied, however, that communications to schools about storm Amy came too late, and that did not help anybody in providing the right response. The timeline that was in operation for arriving at the school closures placed unnecessary pressure on school leaders and parents. The key was the appropriateness of when the notice about closure was received by the affected schools. For many, it was at the very moment that children were being brought in through the school gates and parents were driving away to their workplaces that emails landed stating that schools needed to close. That was at a time when many principals were nowhere near their email accounts and were instead at the school gates bringing children in to start the school day. That created an entirely unacceptable level of pressure, with principals then being tasked with reaching parents almost immediately after they had left school premises to go to work. Parents then had to arrange childcare and get back to the school. School leaders needed time to manage the closures, so it is hard for me to understand why a call could not have been made the previous evening to give schools the time to plan and communicate clearly and effectively with parents. Breaking down the closures by county, which has also been highlighted, undoubtedly created confusion. Parents were uncertain where Belfast fitted in. Despite the Met Office's warning map not covering all of Country Antrim, the EA closure notice gave blanket effect to the whole county, which caused further confusion. That could have been avoided through earlier and clearer communications. The communications on transport and school meals were also slow, often not landing until after the closures themselves had kicked in. The delay in communications appearing on social media also added to the confusion. Again, early decisions the previous day could have avoided all of that. The effect was pressure on school leaders and on parents. School leaders reported a sense of communication overload. They were being bombarded with contact from parents on social media, by email and by phone and were then having to try to navigate the internal processes of the EA. In short, when we have time to make decisions earlier, we should do so. Of course, there is always the risk of being damned if you do and damned if you do not. It is sometimes hard to call it right, but, when we have it, we should be in a position to give our officials and school leaders the appropriate notice. I concur entirely with the motion. Lessons should be learned, and I welcome any improvements that can be made to the timeliness and effectiveness of communications with school leaders about storm closures. I note that the Minister of Education has already requested a short, sharp review of the internal processes in Education, and I hope that that review will deliver improvements quickly and effectively. It is welcome, but, if a wider, cross-departmental view could bring about better alignment, I would welcome that. I hope that we see progress on cross-departmental working on the issue, and I am content to support the motion.

750 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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