Member's statement: Special Educational Needs: Post-school Support
Member's statement by Mr Nick Mathison on .
- MLA
- Mr Nick Mathison
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 10 February 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Special Educational Needs: Post-school Support
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5435215
Read the official Assembly record
Text
In answer to my question yesterday, the Health Minister confirmed that he would not legislate in this mandate to provide a statutory basis for the support provided to our young people with SEN and disabilities when they leave school. His answer was direct and honest but came as hugely disappointing news to parents across Northern Ireland desperately hoping for change in this mandate. Campaigners such as Alma White, who has spearheaded the Caleb's Cause campaign since the institutions returned and has done so much to raise awareness of the cliff edge facing our young people with additional needs when they leave school, will be understandably devastated by the news yesterday. I know that their campaign will continue and that Alma and parents like her will keep fighting for legislation to ensure that our young people continue to receive services and support that meet their needs when they leave school, but I urge the Health Minister to look again at what can be done in this mandate. We all know the challenges in the Minister's Department. They are well understood and should not be minimised. However, work needs to be done to address the issue now. We should not forget that it is a Programme for Government commitment. It states:
"The Department of Education (DE) will work with the Department for the Economy (DfE), the Department of Health (DoH) and others, including the voluntary and community sector, to improve pathways to appropriate opportunities and"
— crucially —
"improve protections for young people with Special Educational Needs when they leave school."
The work done so far to deliver that has not been enough. It has tinkered, and it has largely been warm words, not tangible action. I have asked many questions to the First Minister and deputy First Minister to establish what they are doing to ensure that there is focus and commitment in all the relevant Departments to deliver on that promise to improve protections for young people with SEN when they leave school. So far, I can identify no clear ambition on their part to take hold of the issue and ensure that the coordination needed across Departments happens. We need to see leadership from them on the issue. Our young people need a plan. Time was against us on so many issues due to the irresponsible collapse of our institutions that lost us two years of the mandate, two years when the big issues in Northern Ireland were left with no interventions. In the time that we have left, all steps necessary must be taken. Can there not even be a commitment for the legislation to at least be drafted, ready to land on the desk of the next Health Minister? To simply kick it into the next mandate with no work delivered now would be to profoundly let parents down and let down young people who have campaigned so hard for change. We must not let that happen.
490 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 (0.96).
- 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 | 0.04 | 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 | 0.96 | 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 | 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 14:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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