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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“Again, as I have stated on other occasions, it is my desire to create a modern, efficient and integrated employment relations system with a strong economic focus, whilst protecting the rights of individual employees. <BR /> <BR />The generally positive response to the consultation proposals and the ongoing engagement with key stakeholders give me confidence that these measures will be implemented successfully. It will be in a way that offers working families and employers flexibility and certainty in the practical application of the rights. <BR /> <BR />Before the debate is opened to Members, I put on record my thanks for the positive role that the Employment and Learning Committee has played in supporting the progression of the Bill.”
“The administration of shared parental leave and pay will be as light in touch as possible and will mirror, closely, the processes with which employers and employees are already familiar for other working parents’ rights. <BR /> <BR />Shared parental leave regulations will include requirements for employees to provide an early indication of their expected leave pattern. There will also be a limit of three employee notifications for leave or changes to periods of leave, excluding, of course, the changes that are agreed between the two parties. Those measures should encourage a culture where open and honest conversations can take place between employers and employees from the outset. However, I am mindful that agreement cannot always be reached. There are, therefore, proportionate provisions for situations where agreement is not possible.”
“Understandably, however, the same employers have also quite rightly expressed legitimate concerns about what the practical realities of implementing the Bill will mean for them. <BR /> <BR />I understand the concerns that have been raised about the regulatory impacts of the proposals, and that is why it is right to leave the process for requesting flexible working unchanged. While more staff may be able to assert the right to request, employers will still use the processes they are familiar with when dealing with a request. As I have stated, that includes the current statutory procedure, which is being retained on the basis of feedback from consultees.”
“It will create a comparable right for the partners of primary adopters and a new right for primary adopters to take paid leave to attend up to five introductory meetings before a child is placed with them for adoption. Finally, the Bill will remove the current requirement that an employee must have a parental or caring responsibility in order to make a flexible working request, and will open that right to all employees. That is a substantial list of positive measures for working people, and working parents in particular. <BR /> <BR />Importantly, many employers have expressed their broad support for the measures. That reflects the progressive attitude that our employers have towards their employees and their understanding of how promoting a work/life balance is a fundamental element of employee engagement and is also good for business.”
“It will permit qualifying birth parents, adopters and intended parents in surrogacy arrangements to qualify for shared parental pay. It will make provision for intended parents in surrogacy arrangements to avail themselves of paternity and adoption leave and pay. It will set in place powers that, following any future review and subject to Assembly confirmation of relevant regulations, could allow statutory paternity rights to be made more generous. It will provide for statutory adoption pay to be paid at 90% of earnings for the first six weeks. It will create a new right for employees and certain agency workers who have a qualifying relationship with a pregnant woman or her expected child to attend up to two antenatal appointments during the pregnancy.”
“A good example is the move in Great Britain away from a statutory process for considering flexible working requests to a reasonableness-based approach. The Bill makes no such change. The statutory process is one that is generally working well in Northern Ireland, and stakeholders have told us that a reasonableness approach has the potential to create new uncertainties and satellite litigation. The Bill, therefore, leaves that policy unchanged. <BR /> <BR />It may be helpful if I briefly remind Members of the key provisions that are contained within the Bill. The Bill will create a new entitlement for employees to be absent from work on shared parental leave for the purposes of caring for a newly born or adopted child.”
“Consultation has shown that that is what stakeholders here want, and it is only right that working parents in Northern Ireland do not have lesser entitlements. The similarity in the arrangements will also ease any administrative burden on employers who have staff in both jurisdictions. The swift progress of the Bill, thanks in no small part to the detailed and efficient work of the Employment and Learning Committee, should allow our working parents to exercise the new rights at the same time as their counterparts in Great Britain. <BR /> <BR />I want to emphasise that policies taken forward in Great Britain, or indeed elsewhere, are not always policies that are suited to the needs of Northern Ireland.”
“The sharing of parental leave will enable many employers to retain and develop talented individuals, particularly by helping working mothers to preserve a meaningful attachment to the workplace. That can only have a positive impact on skills retention and the flexibility of the Northern Ireland labour market. <BR /> <BR />Achieving a balance between employee and employer needs in a way that promotes economic well-being is central to what my Department is seeking to achieve through the current review of employment law. I am satisfied that the Bill meets that objective. <BR /> <BR />As Members may know, the new rights to shared parental leave and pay that the Bill introduces in Northern Ireland correspond to new rights in Great Britain.”
“We know that women are performing better than men in many different aspects and levels of the education and training system. However, there are issues with the representation of women within some key sectors of the economy, most notably those that are set to grow most rapidly over the coming years. Furthermore, there are issues regarding the retention and progression of women in the workplace, and it is to that aspect of providing equal opportunities that the Bill is most relevant. <BR /> <BR />While the Bill’s focus is most directly on working parents, there are also benefits for business. Put very simply, we cannot expect to successfully operate in the global marketplace if we do not make the most of the local marketplace of talent.”
“<BR /> <BR />I believe that the measures in the Bill will also make an important contribution to the work that is ongoing to promote gender equality in the workplace and in wider society. My Department has developed a gender action plan that seeks to build on the work being taken forward by the Executive to address the historical differences between men and women in pay and participation in the workforce.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill before us today will enable us to meet the needs of working parents more effectively while allowing employers to carry on running their business without unnecessary disruption. It establishes a progressive policy framework that recognises changing family roles and supports the contribution that fathers and partners increasingly want to make to the upbringing of their children. It is important that our workplaces support this change and that we address in a very positive way the historical and unhelpful assumptions that it will always be the mother who takes on the bulk of childcare and, along with it, a lengthy absence from work. At the same time, let me assure Members that the Bill in no way compromises the rights of mothers to take the full entitlement provided for them in the current arrangements.”
“I am pleased that the Bill has reached its Final Stage. This is an important and forward-looking Bill that promotes greater flexibility and choice for working people and, in particular, working parents. It establishes improved options for people who want to achieve a better balance between the demands of the workplace and the home. It does so, first and foremost, by giving working parents the option of sharing leave and pay entitlement following the birth or adoption of a child. It also extends the right to request flexible working to all qualifying employees. I thank all those who have given of their time to contribute to the Bill’s progression and, in particular, the stakeholders who contributed so positively throughout the consultation process.”
“I am keen that we make such decisions as quickly as we possibly can. The issue has been hanging around for quite some time. I am not going to stand here and argue that the accommodation in Coleraine is of sufficient quality. We need to bottom out precisely what curriculum provision will be required, because that is the key to determining the estate that we require. The case for redevelopment is beyond question. The issue is exactly what we provide, where we provide it and how quickly we provide it, all of which will be determined by money.”
“We are awaiting receipt of a final business case, hopefully in the next few weeks, on the capital investment in the Northern Regional College. As I commented earlier, there are a number of different aspects to it. One is the redevelopment of a site in Ballymena as a consolidated site and a redevelopment in the northern part of the jurisdiction, which may be in Coleraine or Ballymoney. I am not going to say anything further in case I upset somebody. Decisions will be taken in that regard. <BR /> <BR />Compared with some other areas in Northern Ireland, there has been historical capital underfunding in the Northern Regional College area. Therefore, I am happy to give it priority, and we will seek to find the money, if and when available, to facilitate those matters proceeding as quickly as possible.”
“This may well be news to the SDLP, but most people in the outside world recognise that you cannot deliver if you do not have a budget. That is a simple fact of life.”
“There is no point in the Member heckling from the sidelines that we are not delivering. Until her party adopts a more responsible attitude to funding in Northern Ireland, we are going to be going around and around in circles —”
“I am not going to stand here and take any points on what we are spending or not spending until other parties in the Chamber adopt a more responsible approach to this —”
“We are waiting to see what money will be available for the United Youth programme in the 2015-16 Budget. We are at an advanced stage in the co-design process for United Youth, and we have put out the call for a number of projects. Although I have £1 million in my budget this year to proceed with the programme, until we have some degree of certainty about having any budget in 2015-16 to take the programme forward, it would be irresponsible to press the "go" button. Therefore, while there is no core funding in my Department's budget for United Youth, I am optimistic that we will be able to secure some funding to enable us to expand the programme over the coming months.”
“Indeed, that may well be the case. If we end up with, for example, fewer places locally, it will mean that people are forced to look for a place in Great Britain or, by default, they will have nowhere to go in terms of higher or further education. <BR /> <BR />Again, it comes down to this point: what are we going to do differently in order to have a sustainable Budget settlement? There is no point coming into the Chamber and talking about how we are going to carve things up and how I am going to stop something from happening that is, sadly, an inevitable consequence of the Budget settlement that pertains in Northern Ireland. Unless we change direction, we will have these circular arguments incessantly for the coming months and years.”
“There is no point in the Member talking about what I am doing to protect the vulnerable when the policies that are being adopted by default, through the blockages from her party, are having an adverse effect on our ability to help the most vulnerable.”
“That tends to follow on from the question asked by Mr Dallat. I am trying to be as responsible as I can in that regard. It is a key determinant in my deciding where cuts are, sadly, going to have to be made. <BR /> <BR />Regarding equal opportunities, let me say to the Member for Sinn Féin what I said to the SDLP: if we continue with a single-minded approach to trying to protect the vulnerable through not facing up to difficult decisions around the welfare budget, there will simply be less money available to help those who are most vulnerable to get a foot on the ladder, to invest in their employability skills and enable them to find and sustain employment. <BR /> <BR />Choices have to be made in that regard.”
“We are very happy to do promotional work in this area because whether there is a key equal opportunities rationale or a key economics rationale, there is a strong imperative for us to seek to maximise participation in these areas. <BR /> <BR />Again, I stress that as we look to the areas that are set to grow most over the coming years, they are, at present, heavily male dominated. By contrast, the areas under most pressure, most notably the public sector, tend to be disproportionately female. So there is a major structural problem here that will be only exacerbated in the coming years unless we take action to correct this and ensure that we have a strong pipeline with both genders in key sectors such as engineering.”
“It is also about retention and progression within work, and there are barriers in that regard that we also need to turn our minds to.”
“I concur that gender balance in engineering as well as in other key areas of our economy is crucial. We have a heavily skewed workforce. Frankly, without a proper equal opportunities approach, the sector, and the economy as a whole, will miss out on a lot of talent that is available. <BR /> <BR />We have worked to develop an engineering action plan as part of a wider working group that I established in 2012. Gender considerations are part and parcel of that. The Equality Commission has, with the STEM business coordinator, devised a charter of best practice for business, which will, hopefully, also be effective in attracting women into the sector. <BR /> <BR />The issue is not purely about attraction into the sector.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am more than happy that we see students moving in both directions across the border, with certain courses provided on one side of the border and other courses provided on the other side of the border. That is the natural way that this situation should be. However, in further education, it is currently one-way traffic from the South into the North, particularly in the Donegal-to-Derry corridor. That has a massively disproportionate impact upon our budgets. It is a structural problem that we have to resolve on a North/South basis. We are up for doing it, but my colleagues in the Republic of Ireland are not prepared to face up to this reality at present.”
“On cooperation and discussions that we have been having with Ministers in the Republic of Ireland, the answer is very simple: I want a cheque from my colleagues in the Republic of Ireland. We are currently educating about 3,500 people from the Republic of Ireland in FE colleges in Northern Ireland, because there is not an adequate provision there. That is particularly the case in County Donegal, for which North West Regional College is becoming the main provider of education and training at level 2. It amounts to something like £7 million that is going out of the Northern Ireland block grant to train students from the Republic of Ireland.”
“First of all, I am slightly confused as to why the Member is a bit disappointed with my answer. This is where the wheels begin to come off budgets. We have been warning all along that putting all the eggs into the basket of protecting the current welfare budget will have implications elsewhere for how we help those other people in society who are most vulnerable. The investment that we can make in skills and employability is the means by which we give people the opportunity to secure a job and move out of the welfare situation. That is the trade-off that we, as an Assembly, are now making because of the decisions that certain people have chosen to make.”
“<BR /> <BR />Secondly, we have a commitment to try to protect those young people who are most vulnerable. I fully understand why that question is being asked. However, in terms of the scale of cuts that we are facing, it is next to impossible to give any guarantee that we will have 100% protection for any area of the work of the Department.”
“At this stage, I cannot give the Member a cast-iron guarantee in that regard, nor tell him the full details of how we are going to try to go about protecting those young people who are most vulnerable. However, I can give the Member an assurance that there are two guiding principles that I am adopting in how we go about looking at the challenge of the cuts facing us. The first one is to try to prioritise those areas of activity that are most relevant to the economy. I stress that virtually everything that we do is relevant to the economy, but we will prioritise those areas that are most relevant to the economy. The assured skills programme, where we work directly with investors on putting people straight into jobs, is an example in that regard.”
“Yes, in theory. The provision of a revised FE campus will be an economic activity generator. The issue, however, is how far we can stretch budgets in terms of the investments that we are making at present. There is a host of other projects that we are currently committed to. I also stress that the economic future of Strabane does not depend on an FE college being redeveloped in the town. There are a host of other things that we can do, including working with people directly and their skills through existing provision and what we can do to attract jobs into the area. I am certainly happy to play my role in that regard.”
“At this stage, there is nothing in the pipeline. There is a potential redevelopment of the Springtown campus of the North West Regional College, but there is no capital spend on the radar for Strabane.”
“on the basis of the level of cuts, we are talking about several hundred job losses in the higher education sector. That is a serious state of play for the individuals concerned as well as the universities. I am concerned by what the Member says about things not working out for the Budget. We cannot sit back in the Assembly waiting for something to drop from the sky as if it is beyond our control. I stress to the Member that her party has a major role to play in acting more responsibly around budgets. We must be prepared to take difficult decisions, whether by raising revenue or by recognising that welfare reform is inescapable. No one wants to go down that route, but it is a reality that we face as a devolved region. The solutions lie in our hands. It is not a case of sitting back, waiting for a solution; we are part of the problem.”
“There is some work for parties to do in making a common approach to Westminster and seeing what funding packages we can secure, but trying to wipe the slate clean and forgetting about things like welfare reform is not a realistic strategy. The pathway before us in that regard is clear. If the Member is concerned about the looming cuts to further and higher education, he and his party colleagues have it in their power — they have, not the British Government — to make difficult but responsible decisions about putting the funding of the Northern Ireland Budget back on a sustainable footing and beginning to address the problems that we face across a range of Departments.”
“If we cut back on the scale of our universities and colleges, that will send out a very negative message to the rest of the world, as well as to our young people locally.”
“We need to have a fundamental reassessment of where we are going. One thing that I am loath to do is simply stretch our budgets ever further and dilute the quality of what is offered by our universities. That is not in anyone's interest. <BR /> <BR />It is worth noting that, depending on which funding band you are talking about, there is already a funding gap of between £1,000 and £2,500 per place in Northern Ireland relative to Great Britain. That is an existing structural problem, and the current budget is only compounding it. There are major decisions that we will have to take over the coming weeks, both at Executive level and in my Department, on how we can try to mitigate this.”
“Absolutely. That, amongst other reasons, is why I am so concerned about the impact of cuts on my departmental budget. Some 70% of my budget is allocated to our universities and colleges, so absorbing 10·8% cuts as a Department without touching the front line in our universities and colleges is extremely difficult. I am determined to work with the institutions to see how far we can mitigate the impact of cuts on the front line, as there may well be things that we can do, but, ultimately, we need a more responsible approach across the board to setting the Budget in Northern Ireland. We have to understand that our universities are an investment in the future. This is not money that we are wasting; this is an investment in the future of our economy and the future of our young people.”
“Indeed, university income from business and community engagement reached some £92 million in 2012-13. Recent job announcements, including those by Citi, are concrete examples of how high-level skills can drive our economy forward. The cuts proposed for my Department will have a very significant and unavoidable impact on our higher education institutions, affecting their capacity to provide the high-level skills and qualifications necessary to grow our economy.”
“<BR /> <BR />Skills are the foundation for delivering improved productivity and growth. They provide the platform for successful innovation and export-led growth, and they are the most important factor for attracting inward investment to Northern Ireland. The need to develop the Northern Ireland skills base further, particularly in higher-level skills, in our higher education sector is recognised in the Executive's Programme for Government and supporting strategies. The role of the universities is critical in driving sustainable economic prosperity through high-quality and internationally excellent research and translating that research into successful innovation through knowledge transfer. Those are all central planks of the Northern Ireland economic strategy and the Executive's recently published innovation strategy.”
“Northern Ireland's higher education providers play a vital role in meeting the skill needs of the local economy not only by providing a supply of highly skilled graduates but by reskilling and upskilling the existing workforce. The Northern Ireland skills strategy identifies the skills issues that need to be addressed to reduce the productivity gap between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK by 2020. The strategy recognises the need for upskilling the current workforce and achieving a higher proportion of individual workers with higher-level skills — in the region of 80% by 2020. Our approach has been commended by the OECD following worldwide research that it has carried out. It regards the current education and training system in Northern Ireland as having some of the best international practice and aspects that are world-class.”
“The fund will have a particular focus on level 1 attainment, which will be the trigger point for accessing some of our mainstream level 2 programmes, such as the forthcoming new system of youth training, which will revolutionise what we do in training for those leaving school at 16. In addition, the European social fund can support what we do in that scheme and in apprenticeships.”
“Yes. The Member makes a useful point in that regard. At times, when you have a process where bids come in on a competitive basis, the resultant distribution of funds can be more of a reflection of the capacity of organisations to make bids than of the need on the ground. That is why we have gone for a much more strategic approach. We are trying to identify need at a grass-roots level to ensure that there is better coverage in that regard. <BR /> <BR />It is also important to stress that, in terms of the most vulnerable young people, it is not simply those in the NEET category whom the fund will be of relevance to. We will be able to support young people with disabilities.”
“We will see how far the money goes in meeting the projects that come forward. However, I stress that we are in a competitive process with a fixed amount of money, so Members need to be aware that we will not be able to support everything in due course.”
“One needs to be slightly careful about direct engagement with organisations, given that we are part of a competitive process in the allocation of those funds. It is important that that process is seen to be open and transparent. <BR /> <BR />Members of our ESF team have been engaged in a series of roadshows across Northern Ireland to provide information to anyone who is interested. We have been pleased by the degree of engagement that we have had in that regard. Indeed, there has been an event in each of the new 11 district councils. That is the best way to get information across on the nature of the process in a fair and open manner. I certainly wish all the organisations well in that regard. I assure them that we will give every bid we receive due consideration.”
“I know that the MEPs will be eager to scope out such opportunities directly in Brussels, as will the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels. We will certainly keep an open mind on that.”
“We are privileged in Northern Ireland through our membership of the European Union — long may that be the case — in that we have access to the European social fund. It allows us to access resources that would simply not be available through our domestic budget. It is a huge opportunity for us. We have received a larger European social fund pot for the forthcoming period than we did for the outgoing one, so we already have an improved situation. That said, there are more pressures on the European social fund, given the cuts in funding that are coming to us. <BR /> <BR />Rather than getting a different ESF allocation, there could be more productive discussions on whether Northern Ireland could make applications to any new funds that are produced by the European Commission over the coming months. I am certainly more than up for that.”
“<BR /> <BR />It should be noted that, to enable the Department fully to avail itself of this European funding, a departmental contribution of 25% — some £17 million — must be secured, with an additional 35% — £24 million — match funding being required from other public or private sources.”
“As part of developing the programme, I have ensured that young people aged between 16 and 24 years who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are a key priority group for support from the fund. Approximately £20 million of the European social fund budget will be made available to support young people in this age bracket. It is hoped that 25,000 NEET participants will avail themselves of training. In addition, around £8 million of ESF funding is being directed to finance the community family support programme, which targets young people and their families. It is expected that 12,600 NEET participants aged 16 and over will be supported under this programme.”
“My Department has been developing the 2014-2020 European social fund (ESF) programme and consulted on its proposed content in summer 2013. The draft operational programme was submitted to the European Commission for approval in July 2014. Since then, the public expenditure climate has worsened considerably. The draft Budget for 2015-16 provides for a net 10·8% cash reduction in the Department's baseline of £756 million, which equates to a cut of £82 million. On top of that, £35 million of funding in addition to the baseline, which my Department spends largely on the provision for young people, comes to an end at the end of the current financial year. <BR /> <BR />The total ESF allocation for 2014-2020 is approximately £165 million.”
“There are also proposals on a new shared facility for the South West College on the old Erne Hospital site in Enniskillen. In that context, we are willing to receive the case from BMC. If there is a different way to slice this up, that may make the situation somewhat easier. All I can say to the colleges is that the more quickly business cases are received, the more quickly we can process them. We can make bids to draw that money down as and when capital funds become available.”
“Both those areas have had underinvestment relative to the other four college areas in recent years. Whether it is because of the economics or the justice of the situation, those two areas need to be given priority in new capital funding.”