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…”
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“We have heard that 18,000 people live and work there, with over one million people visiting every year. We have had three million visitors to Titanic Belfast. Over 100 national and international organisations are established in Titanic Quarter, generating rates per annum of around £4 million. There are exciting future plans for the site, and we want to ensure that our Ministers take heed of them and give their support to them. <BR /> <BR />We have seen a decade of development at Titanic Quarter that has made it a world-class tourist destination, an education, film and media campus and now a growing residential community, with space for the grade-A premium offices that are so badly needed in Belfast to drive our development. Of course, it is also a site for business and scientific innovation. Titanic Belfast is at the centre of that.”
“I welcome this opportunity. I thank my colleague Naomi Long for bringing forward this important topic for debate today. It allows us to set out the importance of Titanic Quarter as a key social and economic driver for East Belfast, Belfast as a whole and Northern Ireland. The Assembly and the Executive have rightly set out to achieve the regionalisation of economic development in Northern Ireland, but, as my colleague said, Titanic Quarter will be absolutely vital to ensuring that we achieve that. We want to ensure that our Executive Ministers continue to prioritise Titanic Quarter in Belfast as key to achieving that aim. <BR /> <BR />As many Members have said, Titanic Quarter is one of the most exciting development spaces in Northern Ireland.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. I welcome his support for and shared belief in the social, health and economic benefits of cycling to our community. Of the MLAs returned to the Assembly, 70% supported the Election Cycle campaign, one of whose aims was to have a budget of at least £10 per head of population for cycling infrastructure. Will the Minister be able to increase the spend per head from the amount last year, which was only £1·30, to that target of £10?”
“It is somewhat concerning to hear that the Minister does not think that there is anything dramatically different about this approach, given that the Public Accounts Committee of the House said that there was a need for "a root and branch review" of the previous approach. That was based on a Northern Ireland Audit Office report that found that there were 71,000 surplus places in our schools in 2014-15. The subsequent Public Accounts Committee report said that it was essential that the Department provided accurate numbers of surplus places and their cost to deliver the high-quality education that the Minister has rightly aimed for. I ask the Minister, therefore, how many surplus places currently exist, and at what cost.”
“I thank the Finance Minister for his response, but should he, as Finance Minister, and the Executive not already have begun scoping the level and type of compensation that they may need to award and engaged with other institutions, such as the Church, which may also have a responsibility? Will he agree to meet with victims and survivors, along with the First and deputy First Ministers, to discuss the proposals in detail as a matter of urgency?”
“In a leaked version of the study commissioned by OFMDFM on investigating links in achievement and deprivation (ILiAD), there were findings that continuing paramilitary influence in our communities is having a corrosive impact on disadvantaged communities, creating negative role models through people prospering outside of regular education. Why did OFMDFM sit on the publication of that report since approximately December 2015? Given the significance of the findings, when can we expect publication of the report?”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. Notwithstanding what he said about the need for a multi-departmental response to childhood obesity, does he agree that physical education in schools is clearly a particularly acute problem, given that, on average, only 4% of primary-school pupils get the recommended amount of physical education? Does he agree that very strong investment and a strong message are needed in response to that? <BR /> <BR />I should thank the Minister for coming to the Chamber today. He seems to be breaking a tradition, but he is very welcome.”
“I propose that the Education Minister, in partnership with Executive colleagues if that is helpful, initiates and facilitates a public consultation as to how we properly address this unacceptable situation, how best we utilise and allocate any additional resources we receive and whether we need to change the failing guideline of two hours' PE per week per pupil to a statutory obligation. The Assembly must show that it is willing to get serious in its response to the issue and fight to improve access to the good nutrition, balanced diets and physical activity that our children and young people need and deserve.”
“<BR /> <BR />We are often asked for specifics by the Executive. Chest Heart and Stroke recommends that, by 2021, 70% of primary-school pupils should be able to access at least two hours of high-quality PE each week. We should have a network of specialist PE facilitators to monitor all primary schools on the extent to which they have met the two-hour target and to report specifically in inspection reports on whether that target is met. Importantly, as the proposer of the motion stated, it is vital that we equip and support our teachers and schools to meet those important targets. Therefore, we should have a PE fund that will award grants and assistance to our primary schools to be able to meet that need. <BR /> <BR />This is one of the greatest challenges facing our society.”
“<BR /> <BR />The first step, as set out by the amendment today, is for the Executive to accept that they are failing our children and that this is an exceptional problem that will require exceptional action. According to the Chest Heart and Stroke organisation, further to the establishment of open, transparent and firm targets and investment in PE support, 98% of Scottish primary schools offer at least two hours per week of PE. That is compared with 4% to 7% in Northern Ireland. Of course we need to allocate additional resources wisely and effectively, but it is also clear that the Assembly requires significant improvements in the monitoring and information available to us to hold the Executive to account. It is clear that the non-mandatory omnibus survey is not the comprehensive information that we need.”
“<BR /> <BR />Most pertinent to today's motion is the Department of Education's recommendation that all pupils participate in at least two hours' PE per week. The shocking reality, from the figures that we have available to us, is that, on average, only 4% of primary pupils are accessing that recommendation. Furthermore, that is according to the school omnibus survey, which is not, as far as I am aware, mandatory, and, in 2015, was completed by only 36% of grant-aided schools. That is a totally unacceptable situation when we are dealing with such a serious issue. It is something that the Education Minister must take extremely seriously. I had hoped that the Education Minister would be here today, given how many of these issues fall across his responsibility. Hopefully, it is something that we will hear from him on at an urgent future date.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am somewhat cautious about the call for ring-fenced funding just for education, physical education and just the Department of Education, but I do assume that the spirit of the call is that the funds will be used wisely and effectively to promote child health and physical activity. Hence, we are willing to support that aspect of the motion, and indeed the motion and put forward the amendment. <BR /> <BR />The Department of Health's obesity prevention strategy, a Fitter Future for All, has a specific target of every child in Northern Ireland over the age of eight having at least two hours' per week extracurricular sport, physical recreation or play. That will be something for us to look at as well.”
“<BR /> <BR />A range of Departments is responsible through various policies. The Department of Health has the Fitter Future for All strategy, which is the framework for preventing and addressing overweight problems and obesity in Northern Ireland. The Department of Health and the Department of Education share the food in schools policy. Access to free fruit and vegetables and greater access to free school meals is something that has been successfully employed in other jurisdictions. The Department of Health, the Public Health Agency and the Department for Infrastructure's cycling unit promote the excellent Active School Travel and Safe Routes to Schools programme that also merit investment. Of course, the Department of Education has its own curriculum sports programme that the IFA and the GAA contribute to so ably.”
“Others, such as Professor Parveen Kumar of the BMA board of science, said that the strategy should have included other measures, such as tighter controls on irresponsible marketing and promotion. <BR /> <BR />Therefore, it is important that the Assembly and the Executive consider how we can influence a more robust UK and international approach to obesity, as well as the full range of measures that we can take in Northern Ireland to improve the health and well-being of our children. It will need to be a comprehensive approach, and that makes me somewhat cautious with the call to ring-fence funds just for educational awareness and physical education. There is a range of measures available: improved food labelling, early years nutrition intervention and support for our sports clubs that do tireless voluntary work across our community.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is worth noting that many people feel that the UK childhood obesity strategy falls far short of what is expected. Malcolm Clark of the children's food campaign has gone as far as calling it:”
“Here in Northern Ireland, 21% of children are classified as overweight and 7% as obese, which means that one in every four children is either overweight or obese. That has significant costs for the Northern Ireland economy and our health service and creates all those long-term health issues for our children and young people. <BR /> <BR />These are scandalous realities that should be as big a priority for the Executive, the Assembly, the media and our wider society as any of the issues that we face in the Assembly. Tackling those problems will of course require a multifaceted, international, national, regional and partnership approach, of which increased physical activity and taxing excessive sugar in drinks form only part.”
“I welcome the opportunity to debate this important matter, and I thank the proposers for bringing it to the Assembly. The issue of child health, physical education and activity is vital. I particularly welcome the opportunity to speak about it, as it is an issue that I have raised with various Education Ministers over the years. It is clear that we need to face up to the stark reality that, according to the most recent school omnibus survey, on average only 4% of our primary-school children are accessing the Department of Education's recommended two hours' physical education per week in our schools. <BR /> <BR />The debate is, of course, connected to the wider issue and national scandal of childhood obesity and overweight children.”
“I mean this with the greatest respect to the Member, but he spent minutes talking about targets that were set about three years ago and washed over the outcomes that have been achieved without referencing any.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. She makes a valid point about the scrutiny powers of the Assembly, but how does she suggest that the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister executes those powers if the First Minister and the deputy First Minister hold it in such contempt as to not attend it for over a whole year?”
“The Executive should not be using this as an opportunity to cite openness and transparency, given that a question for urgent oral answer was required to allow the Assembly to scrutinise the startling statistics on breast cancer consultations. It is also my understanding, as the result of an answer provided to me today, that there is a 31-week wait for urgent heart consultations in another trust. A frequent explanation given for such problems is a difficulty in the recruitment and retention of senior consultants. What are the reasons for that difficulty, and what is being done to address them immediately?”
“Since her appointment, what specific actions has the Minister taken to improve the health and well-being services that are available to prison officers, given the urgent, bespoke and acute needs that they face?”
“I thank the Minister for his response. We certainly give our full support to the ongoing sustainable transport works. The important point is on the cumulative impact of a wide range of different works, and I welcome the opportunity to correspond with the Minister on that. Will he advise businesses in the area whether there are any opportunities to avail themselves of any type of compensation if there is evidence of significant loss of revenue as a result of disruption to business?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. The record can be checked, but, if my memory serves me correctly, I think that there was a period of more than a year in which the First Minister and deputy First Minister failed to even report to the Committee for OFMDFM in the last mandate. Hopefully, that is something that will change.”
“<BR /> <BR />We have seen significant information on the implications of Brexit, and an investigation into links between achievement and deprivation commissioned by OFMDFM in 2012, a draft report for which was submitted to OFMDFM in December 2015, with important findings that, almost a year on, have yet to be published. I hope that we will also see the spirit of openness and transparency established for the Assembly by Standing Orders today in Executive practice. <BR /> <BR />On the Standing Orders relating to hybrid Bills, I agree with my colleagues that this is a common-sense provision. <BR /> <BR />The Alliance Party is content to support the motions.”
“It contradicts the Executive strategy to build a united community in Northern Ireland, and I believe that it is a barrier to true peace building in our community. <BR /> <BR />Standing Order 23 addresses the publication of Assembly Library papers on the Assembly website, which makes common sense. The standard and quality of Assembly research papers produced in the House are, at times, extremely high and are always useful to our debates, and their publication will expose the issues that we are working on to members of the public. It is consistent with the principle of openness and transparency that should reign in the Assembly and the Executive. I agree with my Ulster Unionist colleague that, regrettably, it does not always reign for the Executive.”
“I have some concern as to how exactly MLAs will be held to account on this undertaking. I believe that there is more work to be done in that regard. <BR /> <BR />With Standing Order 3, I want to note the Alliance Party's ongoing concern about and objection to the fact that the Standing Order maintains the provision that a Member of the Assembly is required to sign a roll of designation of identity being nationalist, unionist or other. I believe that it is an indictment on the Assembly that the mechanism is incapable of reflecting the increasingly diverse and layered identities of people in Northern Ireland and that it builds and institutionalises a wholly inaccurate binary reflection of identity in Northern Ireland.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Procedure Committee's motion to amend Standing Order 3 on MLAs undertaking support for the rule of law; Standing Order 23 on the publication of Assembly Library papers on the Assembly website; and Standing Orders relating to hybrid Bills. <BR /> <BR />It is only right and proper that all MLAs make clear their support for the rule of law, their commitment to work collectively with other Members of the Assembly for a society free of paramilitarism and paramilitary activity, and absolutely towards the disbandment of all paramilitary organisations, and to challenge paramilitary attempts to control communities. It is somewhat concerning that there remains a need to make this undertaking explicitly clear so long after significant ceasefires and decommissioning.”
“A snare is a loop of wire that tightens around the leg, body or neck of any animal caught by it. That can include foxes, hares, badgers, deer and, at times, pets such as cats and dogs. Polls have found that around three of four people in Northern Ireland support a total ban on snares. Why is the Minister not minded, therefore, to introduce a total ban?”
“It is clear that many businesses in Northern Ireland are asking what Brexit will mean for them. They are concerned about access to the single market and they believe that it is vital to our economy. What reassurances can she give to those businesses that she does have an alternative plan, if she does not believe that this is as important as they do?”
“To be honest, if anyone is getting exercised in here today, it appears to be the First Minister.”
“I am sure that even the First Minister will accept that there have been serious problems with the administration of the social investment fund. There have been a number of Executive gateway reviews of that. Is she satisfied and can she assure the House that all government protocols, particularly in relation to ending paramilitary activity, have been followed in the awarding of contracts under the fund?”
“The Minister's statement references excellent cooperation between all-Ireland education and health services to the benefit of children and young people with autism at the Middletown centre. What is the Minister's assessment of the level of cooperation in Northern Ireland between the Education Authority and the health trusts for children with special educational needs and their families?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I think we have eventually got to a very constructive debate. Would the Member accept, however, that the Northern Ireland life and times survey, a survey used by the Executive on a regular basis to establish an evidence base for policy, shows year-on-year that, regardless of her support for flags on lamp posts or my view of flags on lamp posts, around 80% of people in Northern Ireland do not wish to see flags on lamp posts in their street? There is a significant number of people and traders with a view that this is an issue that needs to be addressed, so is she open to looking at ensuring there is a clear legal framework to deal with it?”
“You are not attributing that to me, though. Will you make that clear?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Given the Member's support for the display of flags on street furniture, does he support the search to find an open and transparent legal mechanism, which does not exist at the moment, to regulate and make that process open and understandable to the public?”
“Why does the Minister think approximately 35% of pupils in Northern Ireland are not achieving numeracy at grade C or above in GCSE maths? What reforms or investments has he planned to increase attainment in that area?”
“Will the Minister confirm his support for the agreed Executive investment in the redevelopment of Glentoran Football Club and community sports facilities in East Belfast?”
“I wish to ask the Health Minister why there is a 22-month wait for autism assessments for children in Belfast, how exactly the £2 million investment has been spent and why that has not reduced waiting lists?”
“Why, despite a target in the Programme for Government 2011-15 to have all children in shared education programmes by 2015, have only 2·5% of pupils had the opportunity, and why are there no specific targets for shared or integrated education in the Programme for Government 2016-2021?”
“I thank the Minister for her response. It is my understanding that her Department has power in relation to this issue. Is she willing to set out more clearly to the House why it is impossible for her to introduce legislation to ban hunting with dogs in Northern Ireland?”
“I thank the Minister for his update. What impact will the additional finance secured by his Department have on grass cutting in our capital city — the Belfast City Council area?”
“— that the DUP Minister of Agriculture can take, and we certainly hope to see those brought before the House.”
“Again, it is my understanding that they are actions —”
“Puppy farming remains a huge problem for our society that should perhaps be debated in its own right. There are recommendations in the review of the implementation of the Welfare of Animals Act, which pertains to the DUP Minister of Agriculture, on ensuring that that issue can be addressed more robustly, particularly, as the Member for South Belfast Christopher Stalford said, to raise awareness of to whom people should report animal cruelty. There is a recommendation for a public website and an awareness campaign, and, hopefully, that is something the DUP Minister of Agriculture can take action on. <BR /> <BR />Others Members mentioned wider animal cruelty concerns in our society, such as the need for a ban on hunting, a ban on the use of snares and a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses.”
“The Attorney General stated that he feels that the sentences act as a deterrent, yet the high number of cases we have seen this year begs to differ in that regard. <BR /> <BR />The motion also mentions a central register. I know that the Alliance Justice Minister previously actively scoped the feasibility of an animal cruelty register, and I look forward to hearing from the new Justice Minister about how that could be progressed. I understand that there are problems about what agency may oversee banned offenders and check they are not in contact with animals, and I understand that some human rights legislation makes it difficult to extend bans to full addresses to ensure that anyone who lives at that address who has been banned cannot own an animal. It would be hard to deliver that enforcement. <BR /> <BR />Members mentioned online sales.”
“It was increased to a maximum of five years, placing it amongst the toughest sentences on these islands, through the Justice Act 2016. <BR /> <BR />I know that the amendment mentions further and tougher criminal sanctions. I am unsure how specifically the DUP proposes that they should be enhanced, but perhaps they will mention that in the summing-up of the motion. As organisations like Northern Ireland Says No to Animal Cruelty and the League Against Cruel Sports have said, one of the key ongoing problems is ensuring that those maximum sentences are administered and enforced by the courts. I was proud to be part of a public rally on 14 May this year where almost 1,000 people turned out in support of the call for tougher sentencing in cases of animal cruelty.”
“I am delighted to speak in support of animal welfare and against animal cruelty. I support the principle of the motion: that the Assembly says "No" to animal cruelty and will legislate for zero tolerance of animal cruelty. <BR />I experienced at close hand the heinous case of animal cruelty in my constituency of East Belfast, where we saw pets and loved animals being stolen from homes and used as bait to train fighting dogs. People were brought to the courts, and there was public outrage at the leniency of the sentencing that was applied in that case. I am proud, therefore, that an Alliance Justice Minister, David Ford, took action to ensure that there was an increase in the maximum sentencing available for animal cruelty in Northern Ireland.”
“I therefore ask the Minister what she believes is an ambitious target for increasing integrated education and what actions she will be proposing, as a member of the Executive, to deliver that outcome.”
“The report on ending paramilitary activity states that tackling segregation will be vital to building a society in which paramilitarism no longer exists. It recommends ambitious targets and milestones:”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It is my understanding that the First Minister has rightly suggested some leniency in employment practices this afternoon to support the Northern Ireland football team. I was wondering whether the Office of the Speaker might be able to enquire whether some of the television screens in the Great Hall could assist Assembly staff who wish to support Northern Ireland and make sure that they keep up to speed with our progress.”