Robin Newton
East Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Member for giving way. The Member is aware that the Education Committee took on the very early role, as he requested. Mrs Dodds made the point that the Bill does not have a natural home, and that many suspect that its required budget will be much greater than that outlined in the Bill.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. She is absolutely right about how despicable a crime human trafficking is and about the attempt, via the Bill, to address it.”
“That is not the type of language that we expect to see from such respected bodies. Their overall concern is the education of our children. They represent schools, and they say that the Bill is "flawed" and "not fit for purpose", but it looks as though we will vote it through. <BR /> <BR />I move now to the history of the Bill.”
“Thank you. There seems to be a similar attitude to this legislation. We, on this side of the Chamber, and indeed others, have consistently argued that a private Member's Bill is not suitable for this type of legislation. The ramifications of the Bill are significant.”
“Again, it has been referred to that the chief executives of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools; the Controlled Schools' Support Council; the Governing Bodies Association, which is the body covering voluntary grammar schools; the Catholic Schools' Trustee Service; the Transferor Representatives' Council, which represents the Presb…”
“As we have done at every stage, we oppose the Bill. Mr McCrossan is not in the Chamber at the moment, but I am not unlike him in the sense that I believe in all our children being educated together.”
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“I do not get in those questions all the concerns that were raised by Mrs Overend today, but it remains to be seen. <BR /> <BR />We are in a different place because of the diligent work that was carried out by the Committee over the past number of years on the ESA Bill. That diligent work will have to be carried on as we finalise the Bill. I pay tribute to former Committee members, and I hope that we can continue the diligence of that work in the coming days.”
“If you say that a lot of the questions have been covered, and you then do not raise anything about those questions, you assume that the Member was content with the answers given. I think that that is a reasonable assumption to make. <BR /> <BR />She then raised only a question about the structure — I will quote from Hansard — which was:”
“She appeared to be content with the questions that had been covered. She did not raise any issues. Her only cause for —”
“We also need to protect them, Minister. Situations cannot be arrived at in which it is extremely disadvantageous for someone to move from an education and library board to another body. The staff have delivered for us in the past, and they deserve our thanks for that. <BR /> <BR />Mrs Overend referred to there being a lot of disquiet. I hope that her disquiet will be overcome. During her opportunity to question you, Minister, at the Committee, Mrs Overend opened her remarks by saying:”
“Again, area planning was letting us down, and it was letting down the pupils and teachers . <BR /> <BR />During your time at Committee, Minister, I raised the need to manage the change. Someone said that we should pay tribute to the Belfast Education and Library Board, the South Eastern Education and Library Board and the other boards and their staff, who, under difficult circumstances, have done a good job. I think that someone earlier referred to them "holding it together". We need to pay tribute to those staff members. As they move into the difficult situation of change, that change needs to be professionally managed. It needs to be done in such a way that there is a good communication system with all those who will be impacted on by the change. It needs to be seen that they are involved in the outcomes of the creation of the new body.”
“The fact is that you were challenged, Minister, with a judicial review on the potential merger of Newtownbreda High School and Knockbreda High School, the approach to which was an example of the area planning system letting down the potential of the schools. <BR /> <BR />There are other examples that we can learn from. A decision by the previous Minister to merge Beechfield and Mersey Street primary schools brought about the creation of a new build, Victoria Park Primary School. The plan was to build a 12-classroom school, when all the figures said that a 14-classroom school was needed. Only after consultation with parents, teachers and the board of governors, along with political input, was it decided not to open a brand new school with 12 classrooms and two Portakabins in the playground but to build a 14-classroom primary school.”
“I know. <BR /> <BR />The parents and teachers involved in Dundonald High School were engaged in a consultation process that adopted the approach that I outlined. It took the Minister to make a decision to keep the school open. I believe that the closure of Dundonald High School, and the context in which it was being brought about, needed to be looked at more innovatively. At least, the potential to keep it open needed a more innovative approach. Not only was an approach to keep it open needed but guidelines had to be set for how it could be kept open, whereas, when the board came to consult, it really was about closure. <BR /> <BR />I could go on about Orangefield High School, but we do not need to rehearse that because we have already been there.”
“It has to have openness and transparency, and it must include meaningful consultation. You know, Minister, that, often, when board representatives come to speak to a school perceived to be under threat of closure, they do not come to seek a way forward or an innovative solution, they come to say that the school is closing and that there will be a period of consultation on its closure. More innovative thinking is needed, and there will be that opportunity as we move the Bill forward. <BR /> <BR />It has been well rehearsed, and I want to pay tribute to you, Minister, for a decision that you took concerning east Belfast.”
“The Bill will help pupils, who, hopefully, will benefit from the creation of the Education Authority and the access that will become available. Northern Ireland will have a modern, responsive structure to take education forward. <BR /> <BR />There are direct outputs from the Bill. I suppose that it is right to say — again, it is more pertinent in the east of the city and the East Belfast constituency — that area planning will be a significant feature. Moving to the single body potentially allows for better area planning. No one can argue against area planning. It is the right thing to do, but, so often, it has let down the schools and pupils whom it is supposedly there to serve. <BR /> <BR />If we move forward, and we will, area planning has to have a number of factors.”
“They were appointed by the Minister, however, and were there to do the Minister’s bidding, if I may use that expression. They were certainly not responsible to any members of the public, the parents or the teaching staff, and access to them was very limited. I am sure that they did their best and that their intentions were worthy, but there was no accountability from the commissioners. <BR /> <BR />We are moving towards the Bill, but there have been indications that we are not there yet, and other things have still to be settled. It does appear, however, that the groundwork has now been done, and the Bill will be good for education. It will provide stability in the educational system and opportunities for parents in that it will give them access to the policymakers and decision-makers.”
“<BR /> <BR />On a number of occasions, I raised my concerns with the Minister about the two boards that impact me directly. Mr Craig referred to the board that operates in his area, where the Belfast Education and Library Board operated for many years without any political input whatsoever. The Minister eventually got around to addressing that issue, but it created a gap that remained for a long time, when constituents could not raise issues, and politicians and councillors could not bring issues into the heart of the debate in the Belfast Education and Library Board. <BR /> <BR />Mr Craig referred to the fact that the South Eastern Education and Library Board was run by, I think, three very nice people. I have no doubt that they were professional in their own way.”
“We have moved on considerably. The word "dissolution" is used in the Bill, and maybe that is for technical or legal reasons. "Amalgamation" sounds much friendlier to me. The Bill refers to the "dissolution" of the education and library boards and the creation, via the Education Bill, of an Education Authority. <BR /> <BR />There are those of us who definitely welcome the board for controlled schools, which we see as a positive step in the right direction. Over the years, the controlled sector has been treated rather shabbily, and, unlike some sectors, has not been seen as having a privileged position. The Bill needs to bring equality into the education system, and that board needs authority and responsibility to be brought to it.”
“Even though I was not on the Education Committee for all the time during which ESA was being discussed, I could not help but be involved in ESA and the concerns that were expressed. The Bill was controversial and was debated on a number of occasions. It was much criticised and pored over, line by line and word by word. There was much anxiety about the Bill, certainly on this side of the Chamber, but it was not seen as being a practical solution to where we wanted to be in education.”
“This is a relatively short Bill: short but nonetheless important. The Bill indicates that this is a good day for Northern Ireland, its education system and the pupils who ultimately benefit from it. It has taken us a long time to get here, and it has been a difficult passage.”
“Where there are problems with numeracy and literacy and a school is therefore deemed not to meet the standard and goes into intervention, what is the minimum level of support that a principal might expect from the education and library board or the Department of Education?”
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I wish to apologise for not being in my place during topical questions to the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure on Tuesday afternoon of last week.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. My point specifically relates to the point that he is making about the lack of information. Does he agree that, had the unfortunate people in the Tilbury docks incident not created a row and the container had completed its journey, it is unlikely that the information would have been available within the PSNI to pick up, arrest and take before the courts those now alleged to have been involved?”
“However, through supporting this motion and other actions in terms of the National Crime Agency and adjusting Judge Hart's remit in the case of a negative response from the Home Secretary, we can in fact take this matter forward and continue to keep it in the headlines. We can be supportive of all of those who were abused in Kincora.”
“<BR /> <BR />Reference has been made to Kincora being a part of the UK-wide inquiry. The First Minister has written on that. I hope that that decision can be made by Theresa May, but what happens if she decides that it cannot be? What happens if Judge Hart is unable to investigate fully, as he said he cannot do? This House needs to ensure that Judge Hart has the remit, the resources, the finance and the expertise that will allow him to take a step forward on this issue. If we get a negative decision from Theresa May and we do not allow Judge Hart to do it, we are failing the victims of Kincora. <BR /> <BR />None of us who have had a loving, supportive family environment could understand what many of the victims of Kincora went through for years, and we will probably never know how many went through the abuse in Kincora.”
“Also, there is evidence to suggest that the children were, as we would call it today, trafficked away from the home and, indeed, across the border for similar abuse in other places. <BR /> <BR />Caitríona Ruane called for a united front on this, and I agree with her on that. However, if this House is really concerned, there has to be a united front on how we tackle the child abuse that is happening today. The way that we can do that, in the memory of those who were abused in Kincora, is for all of the political parties here to sign up to the legislation that will allow the National Crime Agency to tackle this problem in Northern Ireland as it does in other parts of the UK. I am certain that those who were the victims of Kincora would plead for that to happen today.”
“They are people who abused youngsters, destroyed their lives and left them with mental problems that they carried with them for all of their days. My colleague Sammy Douglas referred to the fact that he had met victims from Kincora. I have also met them and you cannot really understand what they have suffered all of their lives. <BR /> <BR />Kincora was established as a house of refuge, a safe haven and a shelter, and, for many, it turned out to be a horrifying and nightmarish place to spend their days. Vulnerable young boys were preyed upon, and, allegedly, the security forces allowed the abuse to take place. It has been referred to that purportedly prominent people frequented Kincora. Those are people who have been referred to as politicians, businessmen, military men, church men and people who held high positions.”
“I rise to support the motion. Kincora is a scandal; it is a stain in east Belfast. It was a house of horrors, and every day the house sits as a permanent reminder of its very dark past. Those walking around the area today who have a connection with Kincora and are regarded as respectable people and pillars of society are a total and utter disgrace. They have a conscience seared with a hot iron for what they did to young boys in Kincora.”
“Will the Member agree that it is the absolute height of hypocrisy for nations to be complaining about ISIS, yet, at the same time, they are willingly purchasing oil from ISIS, which is sustaining its murder and genocide campaign?”