Debate contribution: Summer Schemes in Special Schools: Cancellation

Debate contribution by Ms Diane Forsythe on 31 March 2026.

MLA

Ms Diane Forsythe

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

31 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Summer Schemes in Special Schools: Cancellation

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5471202

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I declare an interest as Assembly private secretary to the Education Minister and someone whose mum is employed as a classroom assistant. This past week has been an incredibly stressful time for many parents, children and school staff. I do not underestimate in any way what that has meant to so many, and there has been great relief expressed to me by a range of constituents on the reinstatement of the scheme. I am pleased that a resolution on the 2026 summer schemes has been arrived at, and I welcome the intervention of the Health and Education Ministers in resolving the operational issue. However, the high-profile response to the risks facing summer schemes should not be used and abused as yet another opportunity for petty and cheap political point-scoring. Sadly, that has been widespread in this case. Those who engage in such behaviour let themselves down further. Danny Baker should, to use his own words, reflect upon his behaviour and that of his colleagues, which has been tone-deaf. Safety should be paramount in special schools. The safety and safeguarding of pupils and staff are so important. Risk assessments are essential in those facilities. The complexity of needs has been increasing each year. The higher risk in recent years has often meant that there is a reliance on the goodwill of principals and staff. Everyone needs to work together here. We should be sitting up and listening to the response to take on board the huge impact that losing those summer schemes would have had on parents and children. We must also recognise how much worse things will be if it is not just the summer schemes that are at risk but the entire school system. Those risks, throughout the year, are genuine and real. The Education Minister has raised those risks consistently. On 16 September 2025, he called for a flagship Executive investment programme to transform educational facilities for children with special educational needs. His proposals were for a £1·7 billion, Executive-led, SEN capital investment programme, ring-fenced over the next 10 years. That strategic initiative would transform the infrastructure, supporting Northern Ireland's most vulnerable learners. In submitting the proposals, the Minister said:

"We are at a critical juncture. Our special schools are full, our facilities are outdated and the demand for specialist provision is growing year on year. Without decisive action, we risk failing the children who need our support most."

However, it is sad to note that, some six months after initially being tabled, the Education Minister's Executive paper on capital funding for special educational needs has not been put on the Executive agenda.

I thank the Member for his intervention. I completely agree. I also note that the issue of special educational needs is an Executive priority in the Programme for Government. How can anyone say that they support that Programme for Government objective and then fail to allow it to be discussed and planned for around the Executive table? I fully agree with the Education Minister's point that it is not just an education issue; it is a societal obligation. We must invest in facilities, empower our children, support our teachers and uphold our commitment to inclusion and equality. I call on the Minister of Finance to provide adequate funding to the Department of Health and the Department of Education to ensure that children with special needs can be properly supported throughout the year. Will the Finance Minister show that he can stand up and do that, or will he have, in the words of Cathy Mason, "no leadership and no plan"? We have witnessed the publication of a draft multi-year Budget that will mean significant cuts to education, despite clear commitments about what it would mean. The non-statutory services in the Education Department will be cut if the Budget is applied. It is a Sinn Féin-proposed Budget that will mean education cuts. Sinn Féin Members regularly slate the Education Minister for cuts to every single service in education, including youth services recently, yet it is their Finance Minister who is imposing the cuts. Members of the public deserve better. They deserve honesty. It does not suit the Sinn Féin agenda of the past to speak to honesty, and, clearly, it does not suit its present agenda, but let us get real: if there is not enough money, services will be cut across the board, and people in our community will suffer. We need to get serious about working together to address this. We need to mitigate the impact on people, not mislead them or frame this for cheap political gain. The UK Treasury recently recognised the huge increase in demand for SEN services across the entire United Kingdom and awarded additional funding to local councils in England. In Northern Ireland, we receive Barnett consequentials, and we are due to receive £380 million over the next three years. I look forward to the updated Budget proposals from the Finance Minister showing that being applied to our SEN services across Education and Health in Northern Ireland. People in Northern Ireland are under immense pressure in their homes, their businesses and their families. Families with children with additional needs are not pawns in anyone's game. They need long-term, sustainable support, not just a sticking plaster. Today is about so much more than summer schemes. We have been able to satisfy one small aspect of the issue that we face across special schools, and we need further support throughout the academic year. I call on the Finance Minister to invest not only in the buildings but in the hope, opportunity and dignity of every child who relies on us all here to get it right.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:16 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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