Debate contribution: Department of Justice: Capital Budget
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 1 December 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Department of Justice: Capital Budget
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5269195
Read the official Assembly record
Text
If people are not feeling depressed enough after listening to our revenue budget needs, I will depress them further by telling them about our capital budget needs. The justice system is currently delivered from facilities that are often antiquated and use outdated technology. I will give Members an example of the antiquation: people in Magilligan prison are still housed in Nissen huts that were put there to house Italian prisoners of war during the Second World War. If we are going to make progress, we will need significant capital investment in order to upgrade and modernise the ageing justice estate. Doing so will release savings, because we will have more efficient buildings, more heat and sound controls and other things, but that will require investment. Planned capital projects for the four years from 2026-27 to 2029-2030 will cost, on average, £270 million each year, which would require significant funding above the current £100 million capital budget of my Department. The figure reflects the costs of a number of key departmental projects for the police, the courts, the prisons and Forensic Science, many of which are included in the draft investment strategy. We have to invest in ambitious transformation programmes across the justice estate and to support and sustain investment in our estates, with a focus on rehabilitation and a clear opportunity, as I said, to invest to save.
228 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: 0.02 (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).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | 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 | 0.02 | 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.96 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.02 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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