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.”
The complete record
Every one of 723 lines we hold for Robin Newton, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 15.
“Significant headroom is provided in the spring Supplementary Estimates to allow for unallocated spending to be absorbed by Departments on the basis of future Executive decisions. I hope that, if I am right, one of the areas that we will look at is "investment, investment, investment" in education and that we will support our teachers as all of us around the Chamber say that we want to.”
“That is what we are supposed to be doing.”
“We would generate extremely good income for certain areas.”
“I will make a few remarks about the overall concept, activity and mechanisms of budgeting. I agree with what others have said. In my days on Belfast City Council, when it came to setting the rate, I argued that we should never set a rate for a year. I said that we could agree the rate for one year but should know what it was likely to be the next year and the year after that. I suspect that, if we do not move to multi-year Budgets and multi-year prioritising, the Minister will face exactly the same challenges as he faces this year. <BR /> <BR />The parties opposite need to stop talking purely about Tory austerity. There is scope. If the £36·2 million were released for the building of soccer stadia and so on, imagine how many jobs that would create. How many people would be employed? What about the businesses that would exist around it?”
“It is not about the cost of education. In 1997, Tony Blair, as he was launching a manifesto, used the words "Education, education, education". That stuck, and it became a major factor in his success at that election. It is about education, education, education, but it is also about investment, investment, investment in education. It should not be seen as a cost. It was Benjamin Franklin who said that investment in education always pays the highest returns, and Mitt Romney said:”
“The Minister recognises that there is certainly a need for an additional school for special needs children. We have had representation from the principals of special schools, who have identified the need for another special school to address the needs of children. There is a greater number of pupils in the special schools than there ought to be. I am not saying that that is the case in all of them, but it is certainly the case in some. We had targeted the Belfast area for a special needs school, which was promised, I understand, 10 years ago but has not gone anywhere. The parents and pupils need our support and need that investment. The ethos must be that, whether in a mainstream school or a special needs school, every child has the opportunity to succeed. <BR /> <BR />Some famous quotations provide the right approach to education.”
“Because the Department of Education needed the cooperation of parents over the school holidays and cooperation with the health authorities, things nearly closed down over the holidays. For two months nothing happened to identify the special needs of the child. I am sure that every MLA has had parents in their office pleading because they cannot get an assessment of their children's needs. When you contacted the Education Authority — I hope that it will get better — you felt as if you were an inconvenience. I think that that matter will be put right. It is a matter that must be put right. We need to support the principals, teachers and staff in general in our special needs schools. <BR /> <BR />I will move on to another area of special needs.”
“I came away from the meeting feeling quite disturbed as I tried to understand how they performed their role in educating children with special needs. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were operating on a shoestring. They were meeting very challenging conditions without the support that they deserved. <BR /> <BR />I am indebted to my colleague William Humphrey, who chaired the Public Accounts Committee, which called for an urgent overhaul of the system. It was taking a year for a child's needs to be identified. When senior officials from the Education Authority attended the Committee, I thought, "How can it be that we were operating with five different computer systems across Northern Ireland?", if my memory serves me right. We were trying to combine an IT system with a paper system.”
“We need to be assured that they can engage in play and leisure with their peers and take part in physical activities. It is not all about learning and achieving. It is about learning and achieving, but it is wider than that. It is also about the economic potential for the children and their environmental well-being. That always needs to be based on a school/home partnership supported by the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />Reference was made to our special needs children. Around the Committee table, there is great empathy for the special schools leadership group. Not long after the Committee was formed, I had what I now regard as the privilege of being asked to attend an informal meeting of the special schools leadership group, which a number of other Committee members also attended.”
“However, the Health Minister has specialist experience on mental health issues at his disposal, and it is anticipated that work will need to be carried out with pupils. There are those who work in our communities, staff with specialist skills and contacts based in councils, presumably, who work with educationalists in the Youth Service and can do a joined-up exercise. Bear it in mind that we have outdoor facilities that are second to none and have not been used since last March when they were mothballed. A joined-up approach is needed if we are serious about working with our schools, principals and boards of governors to help our children to return. <BR /> <BR />We need to be aware of children's overall physical and mental health.”
“The return to school has to have an agreed route, and it must be recognised, which it is, I believe, around the Committee table, that, as the Education Minister, Assembly and Committee plot a way forward, it cannot be done by the Minister alone and there must be support for him and the leadership that, I believe, he will show as schools return. Bear in mind that, when he made bids for extra money, less than 50% of those bids were successful. The return to school will require additional funding above and beyond what is in his budget. It will require the Finance Minister to step up to the plate if we agree that it is important to find a route for our children to return successfully to school. <BR /> <BR />Indeed, the Health Minister will also be required to play a part in the return to school, and he will need financial support to do that.”
“The researchers also found that the learning gap between poorer pupils and those from better-off communities has widened by 46%. Fifty-three per cent of teachers in schools in deprived areas said that their pupils are at least four months behind with the curriculum compared with only 15% of teachers in schools in better-off, more affluent areas. If that information and study are correct, there is a big piece of work to be done in the months ahead. <BR /> <BR />I agree with Pat Sheehan in another area: the return journey to school is vital, although my emphasis is not the same as his.”
“There is no doubt that, as schools return, there is potential for teachers to experience aspects of school life that they have never faced before. I have not seen a survey for Northern Ireland, so I will refer to a survey of 3,000 teachers and head teachers in England. The educational researchers who carried out the study identified four particular areas where they anticipate problems. Ninety-eight per cent of teachers stated that their pupils are, on average, three months behind with the curriculum. So, 98% of those teachers believed that their pupils have lost, on average, three months' learning over the past year. Twenty-one per cent of teachers believed that boys are further behind than girls. We in Northern Ireland know all about boys' underachievement and their having to play catch-up at a later stage.”
“They have been innovative in how they have dealt with problems, reconstructed how they deliver the curriculum to children and engaged with parents to support them and provide them with packs and so on. They have done a phenomenal job. You have only to go on to the internet to look at some of the work that is being put out to see how school principals, boards of governors and teachers have approached the difficulties. I also pay tribute to the Minister for his initiative, first of all, in addressing underachievement and secondly, in the review of our education system.”
“My colleague Paul Frew reminded me this morning that in making his bids for additional money the Education Minister was less than 50% successful. We regard education as a major priority, and we have talked about the need for a successful education system, yet the bids were less than 50% successful. <BR /> <BR />I want to pay tribute to our teachers who, over the past year, have done such a phenomenal job.”
“For some reason — I am not sure that anyone knows what it is — the Minister was not happy with that consultation, and a second consultation was undertaken. So, from 2011 to now, in March 2021, no money has been allocated for the subregional stadia programme for soccer, despite the fact that many clubs, which had hoped that their bids would be successful, engaged professionals to make drawings, engaged consultants to draw up strategies for their club and spent their money in the hope that the money that was allocated in 2011 would come to them, and they did all the necessary preparations. So, I agree with Pat that we need leadership from Ministers. <BR /> <BR />I want to turn to the other Committee on which I sit, which is the Education Committee.”
“However, the officials did not arrive at the Committee on 25 February. <BR /> <BR />We have a document, but we cannot use it to hold the Minister to account. I agree with Pat Sheehan that we need to see leadership. <BR /> <BR />I want to turn to another area. The Minister and the Department for Communities have responsibility for the administration of sport and promoting a culture of lifelong enjoyment and success in sport. That is their function and, generally speaking, they do that through arm's-length bodies. In 2011, £36·2 million was allocated by the Executive for the subregional stadia programme for soccer, on the basis of it being a priority spend in the next comprehensive spending review. <BR /> <BR />The Communities Minister's consultation started in November 2015 and concluded in February 2016.”
“As a follow-up to that, I wrote to the Minister for Communities about the effectiveness of her plan, and I asked her when the measurable targets in her five-year 'Building Inclusive Communities' strategy document would be confirmed. The Minister was courteous enough to reply to me on 21 December. She said:”
“It is not often that I agree with Pat Sheehan, but I do have to agree with an expression that he used. Ministers do need to take accountability; Ministers do need to give leadership. I agree with him on that. <BR /> <BR />In the Finance Minister's document, in which he outlines his draft Budget, he tells us that the Department for Communities recently launched its building inclusive communities 2020-2025 strategy, which sets out how the Department will work across government. It is true that the Department did launch the strategy, and departmental officials came to the Committee to outline it. However, there were no specific and measurable targets, no long-term goals, and no points that one could have measured targets against in being achievable, realistic or time-based.”
“that must be shared with the Treasury "on a monthly basis", and that expenditure information is frequently required, as:”
“while those with bad management will be subject to more Treasury control. <BR /> <BR />The report continues:”
“They will be required to share that information with the Treasury on a regular and consistent basis.”
“Therefore, the Minister of a Department, whoever it may be and whatever the Department, is responsible for the governance of the Department, for the finance allocated to it, and for the effective use of the moneys allocated for its various projects. There is much that we can do to help ourselves. It is not always about Tory austerity policies. <BR /> <BR />I have mentioned this issue before, but, for the purposes of the debate, it is worth mentioning it again. It is important how money is managed in Departments, and guidelines are laid down for its allocation, management, effective use and monitoring to ensure that outcomes are provided in Departments by that investment. With your permission, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker, I will read out a few sentences from a Treasury report, 'Improving Spending Control':”
“I say that not to be in any way critical of any of the officials in the Department, because they have faced real challenges over the past year and have not been found wanting. <BR /> <BR />It has been a difficult year, and I believe that the year to come will be difficult. It does not matter who the Minister of Finance was at any stage in the past few years, but whoever it is will face real challenges. I do not think that it is right, though, as has been the case with a few Members, to blame everything on Tory austerity. It is important that we manage the Departments and the finances allocated to them in the most effective manner.”
“I rise as a mere Back-Bencher and as a member of the Communities and Education Committees to make some comments. Others who have spoken before me have taken a very global look at the matter of budgeting, budgeting strategy and budget allocations. They have talked about the time, or the lack of time, that we have had to scrutinise the Budget this year. I am not going to do that, because I would like to drill down a bit into the two Departments that I scrutinise through sitting on Committees. I pay tribute to my party colleague Paula Bradley, the Chair of the Committee for Communities, first, for the leadership that she has provided over the past year and, secondly, for her presentation today, in which she outlined the difficulties that the Communities Department will face over the incoming year.”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. Minister, you will recognise, and, indeed, it is well established, that working in the garden can make a very positive contribution to the health of individuals, their mental health in particular. Minister, have you discussed this matter with the Minister of Health?”
“I hope that I am wrong about that. There are many folk who, in the future, will look towards a bungalow and will never attain a bungalow, yet they will be offered accommodation in apartments. There is nothing wrong with apartments for a certain age of person, but, when people reach a mature age, many are looking for the peace and quiet that can be established within the boundaries of their own home, and, at that age, that, generally speaking, is a bungalow. Minister, can you give consideration to the provision of bungalow-type accommodation for those whom you are dealing with in the statement?”
“Minister, Mr Andy Allen referred to Knocknagoney Avenue, where, for the last 10 years, discussions have been going on about the future of the maisonettes and the shops. My understanding is — it has been confirmed — that the Housing Executive has made a recommendation to you and is awaiting a decision from you on the future of that block. I believe that demolition was the recommendation. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the statement, particularly the fact that you are beginning to identify the role of housing and the provision of housing in a much wider sense than just the provision of a house, particularly in the final area of focus. You understand housing's role in health and social care. <BR /> <BR />Minister, it is my belief that we will never, certainly in the Belfast area, see the provision of bungalows again.”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. Minister, in your statement and in answer to questions, you have made much reference to the involvement of the community in the initiative, and that is right. The phrase "involving the community" is often used: what does "community" mean in making decisions around this? Minister, there are groups and bodies that have a particular interest in the development of whatever asset or factor of life for our ageing population. In community development, as development takes place around spatial initiatives, will the Minister give weighted preference to bodies representing the needs of the ageing population?”
“I welcome what the Minister has said. I know that I am not alone in the Education Committee in having those concerns. Perhaps the Minister will devote particular attention to the 2,000-odd children who are at risk and, perhaps, safer in school than they are in their own home, as the schools, hopefully, return to what we regard as normal.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. On her point about children returning to school and what they have lost over the lockdowns, does she agree that a successful return to school will need the cooperation of the Health Minister and, indeed, the Communities Minister, probably taking a lead from the Education Minister, and that a programme of activities involving academic work, health education, mental health education and community work extending, hopefully, into the summer period, will be necessary?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer, short though it is. Minister, the DCAL subregional stadia programme for soccer was agreed as a priority by the Executive and allocated £36 million back in 2011. Consultation started in November 2015 and closed in February 2016, and, for some reason, the Minister went out to a second consultation. We are now in February 2021, and no money has been allocated to the football clubs. Will the Minister agree with me that that does not meet the OECD established rules of good practice?”
“I thank the Minister. That is, indeed, good news, and I am absolutely certain that that will be welcomed by all who are involved in the care of pups. <BR /> <BR />Minister, there is another step that, I think, needs to be taken, particularly in the health situation that we are in, where it has become extremely popular to buy a pup. I expect that you might agree, Minister, that there is a need to educate the public in how they might go about buying a pup, about the aftercare of the pup should it take ill, the source of the pup — who they have bought the pup from — and the responsibilities of that source.”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. Rather than just contacting the police, I was thinking that those who are working at the coalface, if I can use that expression, in order to try to address the situation, need additional support on top of what they normally receive.”
“I do not think that anybody would disagree with that. <BR /> <BR />What assurances are there that the higher education sector will accept the process of awarding grades that you have outlined?”
“I thank the Minister for coming to the Chamber. He is probably in the Chamber more often than any other Minister. <BR /> <BR />Minister, I note that your statement indicates that there will be training, support and guidance for schools. The conclusion to your statement outlines:”
“The Minister has answered my second question. It would be encouraging for those staff, particularly those working with special needs children, to receive that news as quickly as possible, through whatever channel the Minister decides.”
“The Minister will be aware that Westminster announced a programme called Kickstart, and that programme was introduced in September last year. The Minister for Communities wanted to do a bespoke scheme in Northern Ireland and indicated that it would be titled Job Start. According to her, the Department was unable to launch the scheme on 14 December as planned, as there was no funding available for labour market interventions, and, therefore, that scheme is now dormant at the very least.”
“The Member is gracious, as always. Does the Member agree that key to mitigating some of the circumstances that she is outlining is effective communication between the Education Authority, the schools, the pupils and their parents and getting that important structure in place?”
“— has had a disproportionate adverse impact on children with special needs and disabilities.”
“We have made some progress, and work in ongoing to progress the new SEN regulations and codes of practice, which will deliver on many of the recommendations set out by independent bodies and which specifically target better time frames for assessments. We want to see that expedited in the coming weeks and months. Funding has also been granted to schools to deliver new SEN frameworks. <BR /> <BR />The pandemic —.”
“DUP Members want a school environment that is safe, and regular professional communication between all those involved to allow interactions between staff and pupils will make it safe. Those staff include school staff, therapists and staff from the Education Authority, the Department of Education, and health bodies. <BR /> <BR />The message that should go out from the debate is that the Minister has been committed to improving the current system of special educational provision to help pupils with SEN to achieve their full potential. The DUP is determined to enhance the system of special educational provision in order to ensure that it is accessible, effective and accountable, whilst meeting the needs of children and parents in a more straightforward and responsive way.”
“I have already given way on one occasion. <BR /> <BR />Each of those Ministers is key to the successful outcome of what is called for in the motion. <BR /> <BR />As Mr Humphrey said, since the Assembly was restored, the Education Committee has supported special educational needs schools. Members of the Committee have met the principals' leadership group and have sought to understand the problems and to provide support. Success for pupils and schools has been central to my thinking and that of my party colleagues. We acknowledge the need for a partnership ethos between schools, parents and the Education Authority and for actions that are designed to meet the needs of the children.”
“that is budgets — to address all the current needs of our pupils. It is over to Ministers to react positively to the motion. If we are to see successful implementation, Ministers Murphy, Mallon and Long all have to take it on board.”
“Thankfully, those were eventually taken on board. Those words were the phrase:”
“I agree with the Member; he and I led the debate in the Committee on that matter. <BR /> <BR />The DUP has highlighted the need for additional resources more generally to ensure that the education budget is fit for purpose for SEN pupils. Minister Weir has previously told the Education Committee that there has been a rapid rise in budgetary pressures to provide support for pupils with special needs in recent years. More generally, he indicated, prior to the pandemic, that in the region of £400 million extra was needed for education. The 1·8% rise proposed by the Finance Minister in his draft Budget does not come anywhere near delivering what is required. For that reason and in the context of the motion, I and my DUP colleagues recognised at the Committee the need to include a few extra words.”
“In many cases, that involves personal care of the pupil by the teacher above what would be regarded as a special or regular teaching responsibility. Therefore, concerns have been raised about the need to protect the pupils and teachers by giving special school staff priority access to the vaccine after the first phase. Some also argue for the need for enhanced staff testing.”
“Like my colleague William Humphrey, I pay tribute to all those who are involved in the education of our children at all levels. In my constituency, the principals, teachers and support staff are making fantastic efforts in these very difficult days. The Assembly and Executive have agreed and recognised the importance of education and, indeed, made it a priority. I have to say that there is much that Mr Lyttle and I disagree on, particularly around his opposition to the transfer test and to grammar schools, but on this I do agree with him. It is a privilege to speak up for the children who have special needs. <BR /> <BR />COVID challenges are thrown at us almost on a daily basis, and the requirements in SEN schools mean that it is difficult for teachers and other staff to socially distance from the pupils and to wear PPE.”
“I thank the deputy First Minister for that answer. Does the deputy First Minister regard the military who have arrived here in support of our doctors and nurses as either unprofessional or inadequately trained?”
“I thank the Minister for his detailed answer. The Minister will be aware that when a coroner in London recently ruled on the death of a nine-year-old girl, he said that air pollution had made a material contribution. Why is only one pollutant monitored in Northern Ireland rather than a variety of pollutants?”