Chris Lyttle
East Belfast · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“The Department for Communities, councils, the Department for the Economy, further education stakeholders, the Department of Health and the Department of Finance all responded with their perspectives on and experiences of the provision of free period products and with ways in which the Bill's provisions could be coordinated and funded.”
“That is an important start in support of the implementation of the provisions of the Bill. <BR /> <BR />The Education Committee undertook Committee Stage scrutiny of this cross-cutting Bill — I am proud that we did — on behalf of other relevant subject Committees.”
“and fighting our corners in media studios. Perhaps the hosts of some of those programmes see fit to encourage that type of approach, but I am thankful for the level of cooperation between parties on the key issues and hope that that will be the legacy for the next Assembly.”
“Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to move the Final Stage of the Fair Employment (School Teachers) Bill. It will remove the anachronistic exception of teachers from the Fair Employment and Treatment Order (FETO) and ensure that it is no longer possible for any teacher to be discriminated against because of their religio…”
“This opportunity has been made possible by a collective effort from many people, and I put on record my thanks to research officer Connie Egan and constituency officer Nick Mathison for the work that they contributed to the Bill's progress.”
“<BR /> <BR />I thank my Assembly colleagues without whom the Bill would not have progressed to this stage and would not pass. I thank Sinead for the role that she played as Chairperson of the Executive Office Committee and for the time that she made available to me outside of Bill stages and Committee meetings, which, as I said, made the…”
The complete record
Every one of 1,655 lines we hold for Chris Lyttle, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 11 of 34.
“The impact of school closure and the closure of youth sport has been severe on children and young people, so I welcome the planned resumption of outdoor sport training and games without spectators in phase 2 of the Executive's COVID recovery plan. Will the Education Minister work with his Executive colleagues to ensure a coordinated response to the resumption of school and club sport as soon as possible?”
“As has been mentioned, children and young people have paid a great price for the safety of others during the pandemic. As a youth sports coach, I welcome the scheduled return of outdoor youth sport, training and games without spectators at stage 2 of the sport and leisure pathway. I also note the commitment to publish a building forward recovery strategy. Will the Executive also publish a children and young people's recovery strategy, including educational, emotional and physical recovery for all children and young people?”
“<BR /> <BR />This Budget, however we assess it, does not amount to radical investment in education, so the opportunity that is presented by the independent review of education for radical reform must be grasped by the Education Minister if we are to deliver a more integrated, affordable, socially mobile and fit-for-purpose 21st century system. Most importantly, we must deliver quality educational opportunities and outcomes for all children and young people in Northern Ireland with this Budget.”
“I have said it before, and I will keep saying it: the former Education Authority CEO stated clearly that without radical investment in and radical reform of our education system, it would be unaffordable, socially immobile and unfit for the 21st century, despite the efforts of our innovative and dedicated education sector staff. <BR /> <BR />We also know that the cost of separation of education in Northern Ireland is estimated by a Department of Finance-commissioned study to be up to £100 million a year. Yet, area planning, as has been mentioned by other Members, and the rationalisation of the education system, are moving at a snail's pace.”
“The Committee hopes that the next capital programme will go quite some way to addressing the significant digital poverty issues that have been exposed by the pandemic and which must be addressed. <BR /> <BR />There are many other issues that are linked to the Budget that I would like to explore. For now, however, in his response, I ask the Minister to clarify the Department of Education's baseline. It appears that if we extract the New Decade, New Approach money and compare 2020-21 with 2021-22, following the spending review, the baseline has improved by around £200 million. That said, the Department has identified remaining pressures of around £300 million. Perhaps, the Minister will clarify the extent to which Education is, in fact, better or worse off. <BR /> <BR />I will now add a few comments as an Alliance Party MLA.”
“It is clear that we need to move to multi-year settlements as a matter of urgency to ensure stability for that type of programme, which provides vital physical activity for children and young people. <BR /> <BR />I will move on to capital spending. The Education Department had spent 59% of its entire £143 million budget by December 2020 and anticipated a full spend by the end of the financial year. The Committee for Education received briefings from BlendED NI, the Goliath Trust and the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) on remote learning and digital inequality issues as well as the inadequacy of the C2k system, which is in much need of reform.”
“Far too many pupils were not accessing the recommended amount of physical activity before this pandemic. That must be addressed in Education Restart. <BR /> <BR />Before I move to capital investment, I would like to reference — which, to be fair to my North Antrim colleague, he referenced as well — the issue of multi-year settlement. The single-year budgetary approach is creating real challenge, particularly in the education sector. Indeed, it brings instability and uncertainty for many external organisations that play a vital role in the provision of education services, such as the sports programme delivered by the IFA and GAA, which is responsible for facilitating so much physical activity for pupils.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Committee endorses the view that a holistic approach to Restart is necessary, with a comprehensive and well-supported programme of activities and opportunities to support children to recover. <BR /> <BR />I noted the language used by the DUP MLA for North Antrim earlier in the debate. The record will correct me if necessary, but it was highly irresponsible language, saying that our education had been destroyed and that children will never make it up. That is language that the Education Minister himself has guided our education sector not to use, so I ask my colleague to reflect on that language and to support investment in recovery for children and young people. That will include educational, emotional and physical recovery.”
“<BR /> <BR />Early in the first lockdown, members of the Education Committee warned about the risks to vulnerable children and their families. We were shocked by the evidence that we received from voluntary organisations and parents regarding the extent of the disruption, and, in a number of cases, the cessation of support during later lockdowns. The Education Committee is adamant that that cannot happen again, and members seek confirmation that adequate resources will be put in place for safe and sustainable childcare, early years and education provision for all children. That means resources to rapidly deliver additional staff cover, additional accommodation space, ventilation, school testing and a special school vaccination programme, now long overdue.”
“<BR /> <BR />The position for teaching and non-teaching pay pressures, contractual costs that will be incurred regardless of whether or not they are funded, remains unclear at this point. When the Committee received its briefing in January, teachers' pay negotiations for 2019 and 2020 remained at an early stage. That pressure was not submitted as a bid in the January monitoring round. However, we understand that the management side of the teachers' negotiating committee recently made an offer in confidence to the Northern Ireland Teachers' Council for 2019-2020 pay awards. The Committee looks forward to an early resolution of that for clarity for all educational stakeholders and hopes that the deal will represent the regard in which teachers ought to be held.”
“<BR /> <BR />One of the very few positives from the pandemic is the increasing awareness and appreciation of the importance of schools and the vital role that teachers and non-teaching staff play in empowering the well-being of children. We believe that teachers should be properly remunerated for the job that they do and that families should be adequately supported not only with early years investment but with a comprehensive and well-resourced childcare strategy. Schools must be supported to engage with the educational, physical and emotional development and well-being of pupils and be resourced to provide a unique pathway to support and protect vulnerable children in having equal access to educational opportunity.”
“We have also had an allocation for the long-overdue emotional health and well-being framework. Those are all issues that the Education Committee has championed for investment. The measures have often been delivered later than is necessary, however, and they have perhaps not gone far enough for the people who need them. It is fair to say that the Education Committee has played a constructive role in platforming the challenges faced by education and the areas in need of investment. We engaged with a wide range of key stakeholders, particularly in the area of special educational needs. We also engaged with teachers, parents and pupils on a wide range of issues, including those that I mentioned.”
“It has been challenging for the Education Committee to establish precisely what the Department of Education has received and how exactly it has been spent. Again, however, despite what the DUP MLA for North Antrim said, there have been significant allocations made across the education system by his DUP colleague the Education Minister. It feels strange to have to defend the DUP Education Minister from his DUP colleague today, although that appears to be what I am doing. We have had allocations for free school meals during holiday periods to address holiday hunger. We have had allocations to address period product provision and allocations to the Engage programme, although, regrettably, that has not yet been extended to special schools and preschools.”
“As we have rehearsed today — as, it seems, we rehearse every year in the Chamber — the timings that we work to represent an inadequate budgetary process for proper transparency and scrutiny under any circumstances. As, however, the Chairpersons of the Executive Office Committee and the Finance Committee have said, that is particularly so during a time of this type of challenge and at a time when the education and well-being of children and young people is under such challenge. <BR /> <BR />Despite that, the Education Committee has done its best in recent weeks to examine the information that we have been provided with by the Department. The additional Budget allocations from the UK Government to help us respond to the challenge that education faces are absolutely essential, but they too have complicated the budgetary process.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Budget Bill's Second Stage as the Chairperson of the Education Committee. I apologise again for my absence from yesterday's Supply resolution debate. <BR /> <BR />The COVID pandemic has claimed life and livelihood, and it has severely disrupted the education of children and young people. Unlike the DUP MLA for North Antrim, I have faith in the innovation of our teaching staff and in the resilience of our young people to overcome that challenge, if they are adequately resourced to do so. <BR /> <BR />The pandemic and the unreformed Budget process have made it challenging to assess whether that resource allocation is adequate to help them overcome the challenge.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I feel that it would be irresponsible of me to let that comment go unchecked. We have to have higher confidence in our teaching and non-teaching staff and in our children and young people in Northern Ireland that they will do everything that they can to sustain their learning. The Member's colleague holds the post of Education Minister and has invested in the Engage programme. I will critique that programme, but to say in the Chamber that there has been no investment made, no work done and support provided for our children and young people to maintain their learning is irresponsible.”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. Will she be working to embed efficient and affordable dispute resolution in civil justice, including in the small claims courts?”
“Thank you, Deputy Speaker. The fiscal council was a commitment in the New Decade, New Approach agreement in January 2020. Minister, when will the fiscal council be operational, how will it be funded and what will its relationship be with the Department of Finance?”
“I agree with the Member for North Belfast. The key aim of the children and young people's strategy is healthy children, so I will ask the Education Minister to be clearer. In order to promote safe and healthy special schools during the pandemic, which special school staff will be vaccinated and when?”
“When will the Minister release the subregional stadia funding? I seek her assurance that this long overdue and desperately needed funding will be allocated to clubs such as Glentoran in my constituency of East Belfast before the end of this mandate.”
“I thank the First Minister for her update on work on the Programme for Government. What accountability structures are in place to report on progress on the Programme for Government outcomes? Does she support the establishment of an Assembly Programme for Government Committee as proposed in 'New Decade, New Approach' to enhance cross-departmental reporting and accountability on outcomes?”
“The consequences of last year's algorithm-based grading fiasco continue to be felt across Northern Ireland. I know of at least one pupil who, shockingly, remains engaged in the appeals process for 2021 even at this stage. <BR /> <BR />What is the Minister's assessment of the impact of 100 days of out-of-school learning on pupils? How will he mitigate that impact in advance of assessments? Has he given any consideration or scoping to the viability of a return to this school year in September 2021 for any pupils?”
“Further to that budget allocation, the Department of Education has projected a funding gap of £300 million for 2021-22, which is profoundly concerning for the education sector in Northern Ireland. The Department of Finance commissioned the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre to produce an audit of the cost of division in Northern Ireland in 2016, which found that the cost of division in education could be upwards of £95 million a year. Has the Department of Finance conducted any work towards addressing that cost of division and redirecting those funds to the education front line?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Does he agree that a safe return to school has to be a priority for the Assembly and that doing so may require increased social distancing and decreased class sizes, which would, obviously, require extra staff, extra space and extra capacity for digital learning? Has the Minister bid for extra resources of that nature in order to return schools as soon and as safely as possible?”
“Will the Minister provide an update on the EA procurement of funded access to the Seesaw digital learning platform for schools to aid remote learning among students, teachers, and parents and guardians?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I take the opportunity to thank the Deputy Chairperson for her service on the Education Committee and for her effective advocacy on behalf of the education sector on a wide range of issues from special educational needs to free school meals to youth services. She has made a valuable contribution to important work that often goes unnoticed and unreported, and we are very grateful for that. Thank you.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way briefly. Will he provide an update on his response to the Education Committee proposal that he establish a vulnerable children reference group, comprising Education and Health, special schools and parents in order that they can work together to ensure that special schools and, indeed, all SEN provision is sustained in a safe manner?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does she agree that it is an absolute disgrace that an additional new special school has been recommended for establishment for the Belfast area since 2012 yet we still have not had it delivered?”
“<BR /> <BR />We look forward to hearing from the Education Minister today on those key issues. I also look forward to hearing my colleagues speak on this important matter, which has been a priority for the Education Committee throughout our tenure.”
“I am grateful for the evidence that they gave to the Education Committee to make sure that those concerns were heard loudly and clearly by the Assembly and the Department of Education. The Minister of Education has prioritised the reopening of special schools during this lockdown, but, in that regard, there are concerns for the safety of the pupils and staff at those schools. We need much more clarity from the Education Minister on the contingency support services that are in place for children who are unable to attend school at this time and on the protection and safety measures that are being put in place to support pupils and staff in the special schools that remain open. In particular, we need clarity regarding progress on the prioritisation of vaccination.”
“It is noted that cross-departmental working and Executive support will be needed in order to make all of that happen. That is why we tabled today's motion. <BR /> <BR />On behalf of the Committee, I thank the Minister of Education for agreeing to respond to the debate. It is my understanding that he has been delayed by urgent Executive business, and we acknowledge that. It is hoped that he will be able to respond to the motion in due course. <BR /> <BR />I speak now in my capacity as an Alliance MLA. It is profoundly clear that children with special educational needs and their families felt abandoned during the first lockdown and struggled to have their voices heard and that it took too long for those voices to be heard.”
“The Committee agreed to call on the Department of Education to urgently bring forward a temporary continuity direction in order to ensure a minimum level of consistent access to SEN support for all vulnerable children and to provide the associated resources required to cover those services for all future pandemic-related disruptions to education. It is noted that a direction was brought forward earlier in January, but outstanding issues remain. I am sure that colleagues will bring those forward today. <BR /> <BR />The Committee also suggested that the Education Authority do more to ensure that schools are provided with the resources that they need to allow them to provide flexible SEN support, including outside of usual school opening hours.”
“Parents indicated that the disruption not only disadvantaged the children but impacted greatly and adversely on the lives of the parents and families, particularly in the cases of children and young people with autism. Stakeholders indicated that the continued disruption caused real problems, despite the Restart process and during the extended Halloween break. <BR /> <BR />In response, the Committee called for Education and Health to establish multidisciplinary, cross-departmental, coherent and permanent processes for ensuring that vulnerable children gained consistent access to the SEN support that they needed and deserved during and after the pandemic. The Committee felt strongly that that should be a transparent single-point-of-entry process with a named officer responsible for each child.”
“The Committee received concerning evidence from a considerable number of well-informed stakeholder organisations and, indeed, parents of children with special educational needs. Members are aware of the numerous reports and feedback from the stakeholder event that the Education Committee held in December. Access to those are available on our web page. Stakeholders from a wide range of organisations and parents told us in no uncertain terms about considerable disruption to the special educational needs support provided by schools for vulnerable children during lockdown. Schools often told us that they felt abandoned by the Department and the Education Authority during that period and were left with great challenges in supporting the vulnerable children whom they so dedicatedly support in normal circumstances.”
“Working with Health, the Department of Education sought to establish multidisciplinary teams to review challenging vulnerable children cases. Additionally, that team reviewed risk assessments associated with the reopening of special schools. The Department indicated that children were not always able to access special schools during lockdown, where social distancing, sensory challenges and behaviour presented a challenge in terms of health guidance and current staffing levels. That resulted in limited access to special schools for some of our most vulnerable children. <BR /> <BR />From the outset of the lockdown, members of the Education Committee were profoundly concerned about access to support services for vulnerable children, particularly children with special educational needs.”
“We observed that the impact of COVID on SEN provision, particularly in our special schools, was particularly disruptive. The motion calls on the Education Minister to work with the Executive to ensure that adequate contingency support is always in place for any further lockdown and disruption situations. <BR /> <BR />During lockdown, around 1,500 children of key workers attended around 500 schools, with, perhaps, around 100 vulnerable children joining them. A larger group of vulnerable children — several thousand — also received support through other departmental or Education Authority (EA) provisions, including the Education Welfare Service (EWS), primary and post-primary behavioural support teams, the counselling service and the Start programme.”
“Thank you, Deputy Speaker. As I said, it is a privilege for me to move the motion on behalf of the Education Committee and on behalf of children, young people and families living with special educational needs across Northern Ireland. I begin by moving the motion in my capacity as Chairperson of the Education Committee. <BR /> <BR />I think that, when lockdown began in March 2020, we appreciated that schools would be challenged by the need to provide educational and related support to children of key workers and to vulnerable children. That latter group — vulnerable children — includes among others those with special educational needs statements, those attending education other than at school (EOTAS) or nurture settings and those potentially subject to domestic violence.”
“It is a privilege for me to propose the motion on behalf —.”
“I thank the Minister for her important statement and for the work of the review team that she appointed. This is a significant day in the ongoing work to deliver adequate support services for our prison officers, and I am grateful and proud that it is an Alliance Party Justice Minister who is showing leadership on the issue. I particularly welcome the recommendation to extend PRRT support services to former prison officers who sacrificed everything for everyone in our community. Is there a timescale for the implementation of that recommendation? Will the Minister need Executive support to fund that vital provision?”
“I echo the Justice Minister's recognition of the work of prison officers in our community. I thank her for the priority that she has given to prison officer welfare, for commissioning the reviews of serving and former prison officer welfare and support so promptly in her tenure and for the speedy reporting of the review recommendations. Will the Justice Minister outline the timescale for the implementation of the recommendations of both reports?”
“What community intervention has been provided for those who were released under the scheme?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Will the Member also agree that mitigations around school transport, particularly special school transport, will be essential to limit the transmission of the virus?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Special educational needs is, obviously, an issue that the Education Committee has prioritised. The return to special schools on Monday 4 January will, however, cause some concern, particularly for staff. Does the Member agree that testing, vaccination and additional support for our special schools are needed to ensure the safety of all the children and young people in them?”
“— and I hope that the Minister can do that today.”
“That is a legitimate question, it is focussed on this year alone and parents have not received a satisfactory answer to that or the question of what the contingency plan is for any child who is unable to sit tests due to a COVID-related absence or after there is further clarification on clinical vulnerability. <BR /> <BR />The Minister also said that he would extend the use of face coverings, improve compliance on the wearing of face coverings on school buses and devise messaging to improve responsible behaviour among young people. Has he delivered on those issues swiftly as he said he would? There are many, many issues to address here —”
“Has the Education Minister established the vulnerable children reference group, as recommended by the Education Committee? Will clinically vulnerable children and adults be attending school or is there shielding advice for those in such categories? Why is year 11 not considered to be an exam year? What has the Department of Education done to ensure that every child experiences equal educational opportunity via remote or school-based learning under these arrangements? What enhanced testing and tracing is going to be put in place? How can the Education Minister effectively suspend school-based operations until 11 January for so many of our children and yet support the sitting of transfer tests on 9 January? How can those tests fairly, safely and legally proceed?”
“Will there be, as a previous Member asked, an option for some degree of weekly review, given the seriousness of the situation that we find ourselves in? Will there be extra measures to protect children and adults in special schools? Will be there priority vaccination for teaching and non-teaching staff in schools, particularly in special schools?”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. Yes, I think that that is at the heart of what the Assembly is saying: engage with parents, engage with school leaders and engage with Members of the Assembly to heed those concerns, rather than continuing to adopt this stubborn, dogmatic approach on these extremely dynamic issues. <BR /> <BR />I ask the Education Minister to outline the scientific and medical basis for the decisions announced today: for example, why four weeks' remote learning for years 8 to 10 and none for special schools, preschools and childcare? Why one week for exam years, with the option, it seems, of no weeks for exam years being given to schools as well? Why one day to prepare for the new arrangements?”
“I ask the Minister to be willing to attend an emergency meeting of the Education Committee to deal with those in more detail, but I will endeavour to ask some today.”
“As a community, we must adhere to the regulations to drive down the transmission of the virus to help our children to attend school, but the Education Minister's stubborn refusal to engage the advice of school leaders and, indeed, scientific and medical experts in a timely manner leads to decisions and announcements of this nature that make contingency planning for teachers and for parents distressingly difficult. The decisions should have been taken before the end of term. Our dedicated teaching and non-teaching staff have been left with only one day to prepare for remote and key-worker provision from next week. The Minister has to accept that that approach has to change direction. <BR /> <BR />The statement has left many more questions than it has given answers.”