Member's statement: TinyStart Programme: Funding

Member's statement by Mr Nick Mathison on 13 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Nick Mathison

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

13 April 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

TinyStart Programme: Funding

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5483151

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. That is duly noted. Members across the House will be aware of the work of the charity TinyLife, which supports children who are born prematurely and their families across Northern Ireland. Since 2022, as an outworking of the 'A Fair Start' report, the Department of Education has funded the TinyStart programme, which has provided vital interventions to support that cohort of children across Northern Ireland. The 'A Fair Start' report clearly highlighted the fact that babies born prematurely are at increased risk of experiencing educational disadvantage and need bespoke support to ensure that they can fulfil their potential. The programme has been funded to ensure that those supports are provided to families from birth through to school age. The programme includes home-based interventions, with a focus on upskilling parents as the child's first educators in the home. The figures indicate that around 50% of extremely premature babies are likely to have a disability and that 40% of premature babies are likely to have a developmental delay of some kind. That support at the early stages is therefore vital to give them the very best chance of thriving and succeeding in education. We talk much in this place about the need for early intervention, and this programme is surely a prime example of where we have done that very well and consistently over a number of years. It was therefore incredibly concerning to learn that there was no guarantee of the funding being continued in the 2026-27 financial year. By mid-March, in response to questions that I had submitted, the Minister was still advising that he could make no commitment to even temporarily fund the project while budgets were being finalised. In an update, we have been told that temporary funding to the end of June had been agreed at the very last minute. Regrettably, that news came at a late stage, at the start of the Easter holidays as staff were going off on leave, many of whom had already been put on notice and had no certainty about the continuation of their roles. Earlier communication and decision-making about the funding for the project could have given the charity a little bit more certainty and time to plan. I put on record that the temporary extension is welcome, but I urge the Minister to do all that he can to secure the relatively small budget that is needed for the remainder of this financial year to give the charity certainty and, most importantly, to ensure that the vital early intervention work can continue for the group of children who really need the support. It is critical that we do not pay lip service to early intervention, and we should prioritise it when it is being delivered effectively. Small sums of money spent early can undoubtedly save a much higher spend when the children require more intensive intervention down the line. I hope that the Minister can find a way — if required, in partnership with colleagues from across the Executive, particularly the Health Minister — to commit to ongoing support for the vital TinyStart programme.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:17 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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