Debate contribution: Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (Northern Ireland) 2016
Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Givan
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 23 March 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Addressing Bullying in Schools Act (Northern Ireland) 2016
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5465446
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I recognise the importance of evaluating the implementation and impact of the Addressing Bullying in Schools Act 2016. While the Act does not require schools to share the data that they are required to record on bullying-type behaviour with the Department, significant work over the past two years has focused on addressing existing data gaps to support meaningful ongoing evaluation of the implementation and impact of the Act. While a formal evaluation of the Act has not been conducted, officials have progressed work to improve access to reliable, region-wide data with a view to confirming the extent to which the Act is being implemented across schools; supporting a deeper understanding of the frequency, methods and motivations associated with bullying-type behaviours; assessing the impact of the Act and of the EA's addressing bullying in schools implementation team's work; and informing future policy and practice for both the Department and the EA. The available evidence base includes information from the termly reports provided by the EA's addressing bullying team; questions on bullying-type behaviour that were included in the school omnibus survey for the first time in 2024; work by the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) to help to inform understanding of the implementation and impact of the Act; and learner questionnaire responses to provide further insights into pupils' perceptions of safety and anti-bullying efforts. I considered that the emerging evidence from those data sources on the implementation and impact of the Act was broadly very positive, while recognising that more can always be done.
252 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 (0.79).
- 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.79 | 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 | 0.67 |
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.30 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.03 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.