Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
We have said that we are — certainly, I am — open-minded on the "name and shame" aspect, but, if directions were given and not followed, a school would inevitably be named in open court through a legal process. I am trying to tease out the benefit of naming a school in the first instance, simply to say, "We have found…
You mentioned the guidelines, and the Minister was clear today that the guidelines follow the legislation. That is contrary to what we were told in Committee; in fact, officials told us in a private meeting with the party that we would be reassured, when we saw the guidelines, that there would be no need for…
Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Although Peter Martin may have been disappointed that the tone of the debate was a bit more negative than he would have liked, it has been clear that everybody in the Chamber is on the same page on at least one issue, which is that we need to do something about the cost of…
Considering the fact that what we say here, as recorded in Hansard, is used as an aid to construction — anyone who has studied law at university will know about Pepper v Hart and all those things — by the courts to determine the intention of the law, can the Minister explicitly confirm, to help us with amendment No…
Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. That is noted. I will come directly to a question to the Minister on that point. Do you not accept that, in an engagement with a school about a failure in a material respect to adhere to the guidelines, it is a different conversation if the school knows that the Department…
I am happy to give way, because, on legislation, we have to get it right, and it is through discourse that, I trust, people engage, listen, reflect and potentially change position. I include myself in that: if I am wrong, I am open to being persuaded. The problem that I have with "must" and "may" is that it entirely…
I thank the Minister for giving way again. He has been very generous by giving way on numerous occasions. I want to clarify a couple of points on amendment Nos 9 and 10. The distinction that was made about the use of "must" in clause 7(1)(a) was drawn because, as a Committee, we felt that, if a school was, in a…
I thank the Minister for giving way. Will the Minister help us to understand why they have waited until 15 September, the day of the debate, to highlight those specific concerns, given that the Committee reported on the Bill at the beginning of July? There would have been ample opportunity at that stage. I appreciate…
I thank the Minister for giving way. I do not think that any Member would object were the Department to take the sensible approach of disaggregating primary and post-primary costs in any report that it brought to the Assembly. I do not think that the amendment precludes the Department from doing that. Is there an…
The message has been getting out to schools through what I, the Executive and the Committee have been doing through the process. I have been in schools recently, and the principal in one school indicated to me — this was a school where a blazer in sixth form was based on various honours — that it is changing its…
I thank the Minister for giving way. Just before you move on to the amendments, Minister, I want to go back to the point about the process and the timelines and the fact that you are confident of the fact that, once the Bill passes all its stages, schools will be clear on their responsibilities. Do you have a view on…
Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I begin by thanking all Members who have contributed to the debate on this important legislation. We are, first and foremost, Members of a legislative Assembly. Some have cast a view and made comments that sounded more like what would be said at Second Stage than what would…
I thank the Member for giving way. Does he agree that the Bill contains quite a lead-in process before the Department would be in the space of issuing a direction, that there is capacity to engage with the school manager on the issue and that one would have to ask a question if, despite that engagement, the school…
I am happy to support that. I restate that I and my party will support what is right and oppose what is wrong, and it is not because it is a unionist Minister. There is a certain irony, in that the direction of travel for many people in the Chamber is to tighten up some things around school uniform and tie the…
I agree with the Member's concern for the autonomy of our schools. I listened to the schoolchild who came in to speak to us. She spoke very well, and I shared some of Pat's concerns that day that perhaps that particular school was overzealous around some aspects of the uniform, and I expressed those concerns,…
It is not a matter of supporting the Minister's amendment. As I said, my instinct when asked a question about a live case was that that school should have the autonomy to make its own rules, and that we need to be careful in this place that we do not de-legislate the ability of schools to make reasonable rules.
I know that you are new to the Committee, Jon, but the Committee took evidence from one young girl in particular who attends a well-known school in Belfast, and her family is quite economically challenged. They cannot afford the school overcoat, so when she is 100 metres from the school, she takes her own overcoat off…