Stephen Farry
North Down · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Speaking for a party that has a longer pedigree in advocating a public inquiry than both the DUP and Sinn Féin, I nonetheless welcome this announcement, despite the torturous path that we have had and, indeed, the missed opportunities.”
“The first was a reform of the petition of concern to take it back to the original intent when it was designed in 1998. It was clear at that stage that Arlene Foster banged the table and said, "No, never. We are not doing that. That is a way whereby we are going to have to fold on equal marriage: it's not happening".”
“<BR /> <BR />The main points that I make concern the substance of the order. There are probably three aspects that the Minister needs to address properly before the Assembly, and they really relate to what other options he has.”
“That raises the question of why they want to go as far as 2022, especially when I am not sure — I would welcome any clarification to the contrary on it — that there has been formal Executive approval of this.”
“<BR /> <BR />There are three major substantive issues that I do not believe have been properly aired on this: VAT; European Commission infraction proceedings; and, most important, the opportunity foregone to revisit the classification of Northern Ireland Water and the ability, through a separate water charge, to allow it to borrow commerc…”
“While my party was supportive of the Good Friday Agreement back in 1998, at that time, we expressed some reservations around the very detailed nature of the proposals and how those could, in due course, destabilise Northern Ireland and prevent us from realising our full potential. We have been very much vindicated in that analysis.”
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“<BR /> <BR />Furthermore, my Department chairs a cross-departmental group that has been considering current gaps in provision and opportunities for making improvements to services for young people with severe learning difficulties or disabilities who are making the transition from school to adult services. The work of that group has resulted in a transitions action plan, which sets out a range of proposed actions across government that aims to deliver improved support for people post-19 with severe learning disabilities. <BR /> <BR />The action plan, which was agreed in May 2015, will be monitored by the Bamford interdepartmental senior officials group, which will report to the ministerial group.”
“Those include the outworking of the review of careers support; the implementation of the new youth training strategy, Generating our Success; the further education strategy; an employment and skills strategy for people with disabilities; the delivery of a wide range of support services under the new European social fund programme; and the new economic inactivity strategy. Those initiatives will put in place additional and improved provision that young people with learning difficulties or disabilities can access to achieve their education, skills and employment goals.”
“My Department is committed to ensuring that anyone over 19 years of age with learning difficulties or disabilities, and who can benefit from available provision, can avail themselves of the opportunities on offer. The offer includes a range of education, skills and employment provision such as Training for Success, apprenticeships, further and higher education, programmes funded through the European social fund, careers guidance and employment support services. <BR /> <BR />In addition to the current provision, I recently initiated a number of strategic approaches that, cumulatively, will enhance our provision for those who are post-19 and deliver improved support and services.”
“No, I do not. I think that we need to show a degree of caution in how government seeks to micromanage what happens in universities, the education sector, hospitals, the health service, museums, sporting organisations and arts organisations. We have to have a pluralist society in this country. We have to respect the fact that we employ professionals and recognise that civil servants and Ministers are there to take broad-based decisions on policy and resources. In doing so, we have to recognise that we have, whether it is NDPBs in other situations or universities, formally autonomous bodies. We have to trust those who are professionally qualified to take the decisions on how best to use scarce resources and to invest in courses that are relevant to the future of our economy and which have an impact on the further development of our society.”
“Across the board, consolidation means that less money is spent on overheads, which allows the university to do more to maximise the number of student places that are retained in what is otherwise a very serious situation in which places are being lost.”
“I concur with the Member in the main: we are in a very serious situation with our public finances. We need to have much more financial responsibility, and that starts with a resolution of the situation on welfare reform and the cessation of money leaking out of Northern Ireland through welfare fines. Obviously, there have been serious consequences for our higher education provision. It is worth stressing again that Irish language provision has escaped the axe. We have seen a consolidation of provision in Derry rather than having it split between Belfast and Derry. People should take some comfort from that, particularly those who are Irish language enthusiasts, because the university has sought to preserve what has happened.”
“It would be nice, of course, to have a situation in which the full-time provision was available in Belfast and Derry, and the Member will be fully aware of the context in which the decisions have been taken: cuts to the higher education budget. In the context of an improved situation, I hope that the university's approach could be reconsidered, and we could see the restoration of some full-time provision in Irish language in Belfast. As we look to the development of a Gaeltacht quarter in Belfast, for example, a certain logic and synergy could be developed. I certainly would not be disparaging about the fact that course provision is going to Derry, and I encourage the Member to recognise the difficult decisions that the university has been taking and the fact that it has, in the main, preserved Irish language provision overall.”
“It is important to clarify that the course has not been ended: the university has sought to consolidate its full-time provision in the Irish language at the Magee campus in Derry. Without wishing to intrude on internal Sinn Féin politics, I was under the impression that people were keen to see the expansion of the university at Magee and certainly to build up Magee's impact in taking forward a number of courses. Obviously, Magee is not that far from Belfast, and, as we expect students to travel to Magee for a range of other courses, particularly as courses are consolidated, the provision for Irish language should not be any different.”
“Consolidation of teaching provision across all campuses will facilitate budgetary savings without impacting on the quality of teaching, which remains paramount.”
“Mr Speaker, with your permission, I wish to group questions 5 and 7. As a result of the budget cuts to my Department, Ulster University has sought to rationalise its course offerings across campuses, which has resulted in the decision to close some courses and to consolidate others. This includes the consolidation of Irish courses at the Magee campus. A bachelor's degree in Irish language and literature will continue to be offered at the Belfast campus as a part-time study option. The university has advised that, in making these decisions, a number of factors have been taken into consideration, including student demand, attrition rates, student satisfaction, employment statistics and research performance.”
“I am pleased that we have 66 projects up and running. We have a commitment over the next three years whereby in excess of €110 million is due to be spent on what we do to support the community and voluntary sector and to support others, particularly those who are most marginalised from the labour market and from those skills, in improving their life opportunities.”
“It is important to recognise that — I made this point in the main answer — we have the European social fund for 2014-20 up and running. We managed that without any break in coverage, albeit that it was rather tight at the end of March into the beginning of April. The timescales provided to us by the European Commission for the clearance of our operational programme meant a very tight turnaround. It is worth noting that we are well ahead of many other parts of the European Union in having our European social fund up and running. Certainly, we stand in a good place compared with the situation elsewhere in the UK. <BR /> <BR />Of course, the European social fund itself makes a massive contribution to the provision of skills and to bringing people closer to the labour market across Northern Ireland.”
“Hopefully, that delay in the system will work itself out over the coming months, and we will be back on a level playing field and addressing claims as they come in.”
“There are two processes in play. One is the closure of the outgoing 2007-2013 period. The Member will know that we put measures in place at the beginning of July to accelerate the closure of that programme, and good progress has been made. We are down to the final outstanding payments, and, hopefully, those will be cleared up before the end of this calendar year. The second process is the flow of resource to projects in the incoming programme between 2014 and 2020. As I set out in the main answer, we have put in place a process of accelerated payments in the form of a 50% contribution towards unpaid claims: in effect, we pay now and vouch later, and we are happy to do that at our risk. That is a fairly low-risk approach for us to take.”
“Strictly speaking, those judicial reviews are not yet at the point at which they are being taken against the Department. That remains to be seen over the coming weeks. We will, obviously, defend our position in the event of any challenge. I am certainly confident about the procedures that have been deployed by my Department and officials over the incoming 2014-20 period, although we are always happy to learn lessons about how things can be done better. We are in the hands of the process, but I stress to the Member that it remains to be seen whether, in practice, anything will transpire.”
“At this stage, I am open to groups that wish to get in touch with me and ask for meetings, and we will look to facilitate those. Obviously, my officials will have ongoing interaction with them, and the managing authority meets groups to discuss problems. There is a range of avenues through which we have ongoing dialogue with the groups that benefit from the European social fund.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am confident that this combination of short-term measures has gone a significant way to addressing the backlog of claims and will soon bring the managing authority to a position whereby it can efficiently vouch each individual claim as and when it arrives.”
“<BR /> <BR />In order to ease cash flow issues for the new projects, I have agreed to my Department's implementing an interim measure whereby 50% of the ESF and DEL contribution in unpaid claims is paid now and vouched later. Applying this process has alleviated the initial financial pressures that the projects have experienced, whilst work continues apace to ensure that all claims are fully vouched in line with audit requirements. In tandem with this, the Department has brought further staff into the ESF managing authority on a temporary basis in order to assist with the vouching of all claims.”
“My Department is continuing to process final claims from projects that were originally funded as part of the European social fund (ESF) between 2007 and 2013. The majority of organisations have now received full payment under the programme. My Department has brought on board additional staff to further assist this process and to ensure that it is completed as soon as possible. I am pleased to report that 66 projects under the 2014-2020 programme are now fully up and running. Many of the projects have been operational since April, while some other EU-funded programmes from the 2014-2020 funding round, here and in other parts of the UK, have yet to initiate their application processes.”
“I am happy to concur with the Member that, again, that may well be a useful way to look at the future of the site. I should stress that these are not matters for me or the Department: this is for the university to take forward. Again, I am sure that the university will pick up the comments that have been made by the Member and continue efforts to explore a more productive use for the site than the current situation.”
“At a personal level, I would be more than happy to see the school get new premises. Ultimately, those are conversations to be had between the Education Authority and the university. I am sure that, not least on the back of the comments made by the Member, those conversations can take place.”
“This site is owned by the Ulster University. In July 2009, the university advised that the site was surplus to requirements and that planning permission for residential use had been obtained. It was proposed that the site be offered for sale at an appropriate time, with all the proceeds being reinvested in the university's core business. The university has advised me that the position has not changed.”
“We cannot simply say that, if cutbacks are happening at universities, we will put more resources into further education. That is just not realistic. We have to make do with what we have at present and deliver things more efficiently and effectively and, at the same time, make the case for more resources through future years' budget allocations.”
“That question tends to follow on from and reinforce what Mr Dallat has said. Again, to take the answer further, there are no good answers, short of actually having a more responsible approach to public finances across the board. We are not in a situation where we can make more money available to further education. The further education sector itself is already battling with cuts, has had to make very significant savings in this year's budget and, like other parts of the public sector, is looking ahead with great concern to what may be happening in the future. <BR /> <BR />We need to get our priorities right. I am very clear that we have to invest in skills across a very broad front if we are to truly transform the economy. Quite sadly, we are going in the opposite direction: we are defunding our colleges and universities.”
“I have had discussions with the Minister of Education primarily around the Irish language, which we will come to shortly. The further education colleges are very clear on their own mission about supporting the local economy. As the Member will appreciate, we are finalising a new further education strategy for Northern Ireland. It will consolidate a lot of the progress that has been made in recent years. While the colleges are certainly up for the challenge, we need to be realistic about the prospect of directing more resources to them. Resources are very scarce at present, and the prospect is that they may get scarcer before the situation improves.”
“It is useful to reflect on the fact that Switzerland's economy has a different approach to higher level skills. The Swiss actually have a much smaller higher education sector than us, per capita participation, but they have a much more advanced system of higher level vocational skills. Without wanting to diminish what we are doing around higher education in Northern Ireland, we have drawn very heavily from colleagues in Switzerland in designing our system of apprenticeships, including higher level apprenticeships in Northern Ireland.”
“I will say several things to the Member. The fact that we are cutting our higher education sector in Northern Ireland is at the heart of the negative message that we are sending out to the rest of the world. We need to be mindful of how important our base — the universities and the skilled graduates that we are producing — is to Invest Northern Ireland's narrative on how it is successful in attracting investment into Northern Ireland. There are real dangers in that regard. Obviously, what we are doing around languages is one subset of that. I mentioned to Mr Anderson that the further education sector and, indeed, a potential academy approach may well be able to address the particular language requirements of the business community. <BR /> <BR />The Member made a comparison with Switzerland.”
“It is important to bear in mind that there can be a difference between the teaching of languages in an academic context, such as that you would find in a university, and the more practical, selective requirements of business, such as the ability to engage in sales and marketing, with an eye to exports.”
“Obviously, that includes what we are doing around modern languages. I think that we would all prefer it to be different, but we have not followed through, in our actions, by having a more realistic approach to budget setting as an Executive and, in turn, through what comes through to my Department. Therein lies the difficulty of where we find ourselves today. <BR /> <BR />By way of mitigation, we could look to the further education sector and the potential for an academy to be created, where demand exists, under the Assured Skills programme. Indeed, that may prove to be a more effective way of addressing the language skills that are required by businesses.”
“We need to be slightly cautious about the latter points that the Member makes. Issues were raised around the viability of the school to begin with. That is reflected in the decision-making process in which the university has been involved. Overall, taking on board the comments made by the Chamber of Commerce and other business organisations, it is worth reflecting on the point that none of what we are doing around higher education makes a huge amount of sense. To be perfectly frank, it does not make any sense at all.”
“However, that is dependent on an identified need of a group of employers, where the availability of language skills is impeding the growth of a particular sector.”
“<BR /> <BR />The level of interest and demand from students choosing modern language subjects at Ulster University is low both in terms of the number of students who select modern language as a first choice and in terms of those who meet the requirements of the course. While I acknowledge the concern among business and other stakeholders regarding access to modern language courses, given the language skills required by the workforce, the further education colleges are well positioned to help meet the demand for modern language learning in Northern Ireland at the level needed. There is also the potential for my Department to give consideration to the provision of a business language academy through the Assured Skills programme.”
“Mr Speaker, with your permission, I will group questions 2 and 12. <BR /> <BR />Ulster University's decision to close its school of modern languages is the outworking of the budget cuts to my Department and the higher education sector. As a result of the cuts, Ulster University has sought to rationalise its course offerings across campuses. That has resulted in the decision to close some courses and consolidate others. The university has advised that, in making those decisions, a number of factors have been taken into consideration, including student demand, attrition rates, student satisfaction, employment statistics and research performance. The consolidation of teaching provision across all campuses will facilitate budgetary savings without impacting on the quality of teaching, which remains paramount.”
“The Member will know that those workforce planning issues are matters for the Department of Health, rather than directly for my Department. I, like others, am very much aware of the pressures that are being experienced within the health service. I am sure that the Health Minister is very much seized of those issues.”
“That type of hybrid study, particularly at the higher levels, will be very lucrative for employers in their having confidence that they are getting the qualified young people that they need for the future growth of their business, and for young people themselves in knowing that they have the employability skills that are very much prized by employers, in addition to the professional technical skills that employers need.”
“The key point here is that we have very clear evidence of the importance of higher-level skills and having a much greater footprint in those. However, we are not going to achieve that fully through the more traditional higher education academic route. While that will remain important, it is equally important that we seek to diversify the routes through which we provide those higher-level skills. The apprenticeship model provides a different alternative, one that combines people being in a job while learning both on the job and at a college or university.”
“As the Member will appreciate, as part of the Northern Ireland apprenticeship strategy, we are committed to piloting the higher-level apprenticeships. We have secured a package of £7·5 million from the Executive for that and some piloting in relation to youth training. At this stage, we are looking at potentially around 450 higher-level apprenticeships across 10 different occupational areas starting in the current academic year. All six of our colleges, as well as our universities, have engaged in this process. Of a total of 30 applications that have been made, 27 have been approved by my Department. The list includes areas such as mechatronics engineering, insurance, food manufacturing and computing. A full list is available on the NI Direct website.”
“Obviously, that comes at the detriment of our ability to invest that money in other parts of further education. Let me be clear that I am not seeking to discourage students coming from the South. We have to have a natural flow in both directions to balance each other out. Once we have that, colleges will be able to specialise even more in provision, which stands to benefit us all, irrespective of which jurisdiction we are starting from.”
“There are probably two separate issues in that regard. There is the issue of what is happening in higher education, which has been the subject of quite a few questions in the Assembly recently. The main barrier to a flow from North to South in further education is a lack of equivalent provision in many parts of the Republic of Ireland. That is what we are seeing particularly in relation to the Derry/Donegal phenomenon, where there is a migration into North West Regional College because there is not any significant provision at that level in County Donegal. That area has been sadly neglected by the Irish Government over many years. <BR /> <BR />We in Northern Ireland bear a major cost of around £7·5 million every year; that is the effect of this.”
“It depends on the level of study. At levels 2, 3 and 4, I imagine that the Southern Regional College has a massive advantage. We do not have huge evidence of a flow of students from Northern Ireland to the Republic for further education or its equivalent. However, we see a significant flow of students in the opposite direction. The bulk of that flow is in the Derry/north Donegal corridor, where we have well in excess of 2,500 students moving in that direction. The flow between Newry and County Louth would be much smaller than that.”
“While, on a piecemeal basis, we have seen elements that we are considering for Northern Ireland being introduced in other parts of the UK, they are not at the stage where they are encapsulating those as part of a formal strategy, although I am sure that they will seek to do so in the very near future.”
“Through a bizarre coincidence of timing — or maybe it was deliberate; who knows? — in the week that we launched our consultation exercise, an Taoiseach announced a disability employment strategy for the Republic of Ireland. We see, on a North/South basis, a coming together of the two jurisdictions in similar types of provision. While we will remain separate in the implementation of those respective strategies, where there is potential for commonality, learning lessons on a shared basis or exploring opportunities for placements or job opportunities on a North/South basis, we will take those up. <BR /> <BR />We are aware of developments in disability employment strategies elsewhere in the UK.”
“Like Northern Ireland, other parts of these islands are looking at the support that they provide to people with disabilities. That involves a range of public services and the infrastructure that we have. There is also an increased focus on employability. <BR /> <BR />I was at the conference to share our experiences in Northern Ireland over past years in how we have sought to support people with disabilities into the world of work and how we can help them to sustain employment. I also highlighted the strategy that we have just launched for consultation. I spoke alongside the Irish Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald. Other prominent speakers were there, too.”
“The increases in the minimum wage and, in due course, the so-called living wage approach will, to an extent, mitigate those cuts, though not fully. There will be a differential impact for different people. We also have to factor in the potential implications for employment levels in Northern Ireland. While there is a clear national consensus on the way to go in additional support for those who are in work through what they are earning, we also need to be conscious of the potential impacts, particularly on SMEs, as we have a predominance of SMEs in our local economy.”
“That point is being brought up by a number of sources. A lot of consideration is being given to steps that can be put in place to mitigate the effects of welfare reform by ensuring that we are investing in employability schemes and how we give people proper opportunities to engage with the world of work and sustain employment.”
“Yes, I am opposed to what is happening with tax credits. However, as the Member will know, that is happening on a non-devolved basis through Westminster, and it is therefore incumbent on MPs who are there — that can potentially include the elected representatives from the Member's party — to stand up for the circumstances of Northern Ireland when decisions are being taken in that regard. The Member will also be aware that we have a talks process under way and that the issue of welfare is under consideration.”
“This also has a very strong economic rationale. It is about companies investing in their staff and ensuring that they are treating them with respect, and a productivity gain will come on the back of this to all employers who are required to go along with the new legal framework.”
“Yes, I am very much aware of the importance of ensuring that people in Northern Ireland get full advantage of such provision, and I would join the Member in stressing the importance of remembering that, when we talk about shared parental leave or potential shared grandparental leave, this is all about voluntary participation and enabling people. It is about recognising the different nature of the modern family. We often have two parents who are working or, indeed, single parents, in the case of the grandparent context, who may be working, and there may be a whole host of economic and social reasons why people wish to share the leave available to them in different ways. It is not about forcing people to move away from a more traditional model if that is what particular families prefer, but it is essentially widening choice.”
“At this stage, it is very early days, given that it was only announced last week at the Conservative Party conference. In principle, it seems to be a positive idea. As the Member will know, only this year, we introduced shared parental leave. That has been in place since the beginning of April this year. It would take fresh legislation in the Assembly. However, if that is the view of the Member and other parties, I am sure that there would be a strong basis on which we could proceed to introduce legislation along similar lines to legislation that will be introduced for Great Britain.”
“The intention is to have the formal strategy in place early in 2016, once we have formally concluded the consultation process and collated all the responses. However, there are aspects of it that we can proceed with already, and the Member will probably be pleased to note that we have proceeded, through Disability Action, to begin recruiting the supported employment officers.”