Stewart Dickson
East Antrim · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Thank you, Minister, for your answer. Minister, you will have noted that the Government recently announced a VAT cut for some family expenses for a range of activities over the summer. That is perhaps a change.”
“Many do not know how to apply; others do not even realise that the opportunities exist. If the process itself is a barrier to participation, it is really not open to all.”
“I was born in 1950 in Thorndale House, which was one of the homes that is named in the legislation. I was born to married parents, and Thorndale House was a maternity home. It was where you went to have your baby in 1950 on the Antrim Road. My mum and dad went there, I was born and, a few days later, I left with loving parents.”
“I agree with Mr Brett: amendment No 6 is important because it will deal with persons who refuse to provide information or evidence to the inquiry. Amendment No 8 to clause 20 is a tidying-up amendment that will allow the Committee to make interim reports, which will be of benefit to the inquiry process.”
“That is why I want the inquiry to succeed and why it is vital that it succeeds. That is why it is important for us to see that cruelty in the full glare of a public inquiry. That is why it is important that the scheme goes through without further delay. <BR /> <BR />Finally, I place on record my thanks to the Committee Chair.”
“The Assembly faces stark choices, and agreeing the draft Budget as it stands is not a silver bullet, nor is it sustainable for us to continue in the absence of a Budget. It is vital, therefore, that we break the cycle of crisis and collapse that has been destroying our public finances.”
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“That, in itself, is of significant concern, but the interface between Charter and the UDA should ring alarm bells. Alliance welcomes people with a paramilitary past playing a positive and constructive role in society. However, when people with a paramilitary present are doing so and, indeed, are managing public funds that have been awarded through a closed system, there is clearly a problem. The issue with Mr Stitt is more than the use of abusive language in a 'Guardian' video and more than the reference to his band providing homeland security; it is the reference to working-class areas being jungles, with the inevitability of local hard men. That is the culture that I came here to break down. It is the culture that the Assembly should be breaking down.”
“That is unhealthy and undemocratic. Groups that I have met have expressed those concerns to me. Some may argue that it takes local lead partners to source local client groups for schemes and that that is added value. Frankly, even that is disturbing; it reinforces the belief that there are local gatekeepers in too many communities and that the delivery partners are incapable of doing that directly themselves. <BR /> <BR />That brings us back to the issue of Charter NI. Let us be clear: the DUP has had a clear agenda of trying to direct funding to Charter over the last number of years. Sometimes Charter has been successful in winning competitive bids but, at other times, the DUP has increased the amount of cunning schemes to try to get it funds outside the normal process.”
“That begs the question: what precisely is the benefit of that extra layer of bureaucracy in lead partners and associated management fees? Is it about channelling resources into the hands of the preferred and favoured organisations of the DUP and Sinn Féin? If so, why? There is a growing sense of frustration — I am sure that other Members will echo this — across wide swathes of the community and voluntary sector about resources being steered to certain favoured groups at the expense of others without open and merit-based competition. Without that, we, quite simply, do not have fair play. We may miss out on even better solutions that other organisations might offer. There is a growing sense of grievance. <BR /> <BR />Even more disturbingly, groups feel disempowered from speaking out lest they lose scarce resources.”
“The most disturbing aspect of the process is that only groups represented on the steering groups can become lead partners. This is, ultimately, a closed shop and is clearly a conflict of interest. While we then see a competitive process in the organisations that will deliver the services on the ground, many of those groups, if not all, previously could have, or indeed have, been funded through conventional approaches and directly by responsible Departments. In east Belfast, GEMS, which is the larger and more-experienced organisation in delivering community-based employability programmes for government, including some of the schemes that I have mentioned, is managed by Charter, which is the smaller and less-experienced organisation.”
“The public rationale was about innovative approaches by placing decision-making power in the hands of local communities. The real rationale seems to be to concentrate power in the hands of certain local groups favoured by the two dominant political parties, namely, the DUP and Sinn Féin. To achieve this, political membership was locked into steering groups and was distributed by the proportional system of d'Hondt, which, of course, was skewed towards the larger parties. Some of the so-called independent members also have clear links to the two leading parties. Mr Stitt, for example, is also a member of the south-eastern group.”
“However, these programmes had to be discontinued in 2015 due to excessive Executive cuts to the DEL budget. The NEETs strategy is now delivered only through the European social fund (ESF). Similarly, a much reduced LEMIS programme is being delivered geographically to eligible partners and through ESF. <BR /> <BR />Here is the irony. Through all this, the social investment fund has been protected by the Executive, despite all the cuts to, and underfunding of, the public sector, including cuts that were passed on to the community and voluntary sector. The very organisations that have been delivering quality programmes have been cut back, but not SIF. <BR /> <BR />The genesis of the social investment fund goes back to 2011.”
“The Local Employment Intermediary Service (LEMIS) was a community-based employment intervention which gave assistance to marginalised and hard-to-reach unemployed people, beyond what was provided by the employment service through jobs and benefits offices. Take Pathways to Success, the Executive strategy for addressing people not in education, employment and training (NEET). One of its programmes was the collaboration and innovation fund (CIF). This placed £9 million in the hands of 18 different community-based projects to assist marginalised young people. These programmes were successful and popular; they even received endorsement from the London-based Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion. Money was distributed in a timely and effective manner.”
“<BR /> <BR />Listening to comments from some of the advocates of the social investment fund, you would think that the Government's interventions to deal issues of employability, childcare, public health and deprivation were not being dealt with elsewhere. Indeed, the point applies equally to Government interventions that are deployed through the community and voluntary sector. This has regularly been viewed as an efficient way of delivering money quickly and distributing it to the grass roots, effective in producing outcomes and fair in funding decisions based on objective criteria in open and merit-based competitions. <BR /> <BR />A number of good examples can be cited from the Department for Employment and Learning.”
“There are very legitimate concerns that the flawed approach of the social investment fund could be replicated in other funding streams, notably that of the so-called Executive action plan on paramilitarism, which has an agenda of buying off paramilitaries rather than standing up for the principles of the rule of law and promoting a culture of lawfulness. Furthermore, while it is not the role of the Assembly to direct the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO), it is reasonable to anticipate that the operation of the social investment fund will be subject to a full and rigorous investigation.”
“Indeed, in at least one respect, the ongoing association of DUP representatives, including the First Minister, with a current paramilitary who is chief executive of Charter NI has undermined the credibility of the Executive's commitment to tackling paramilitarism. It has quite simply been a disaster for the principle of good governance. The Assembly should take very seriously the comments of the former commissioner of standards, Sir Alistair Graham, who said that the social investment fund is "flawed" and requires root-and-branch reform. <BR /> <BR />The motion calls on the First Minister and deputy First Minister to review the social investment fund with a view to both learning lessons and determining whether the approach should continue. This review needs to be independent.”
“Quite rightly, a lot of points have been made over the past number of weeks about the situation at Charter NI and its chief executive, Dee Stitt. However, the issues and concerns with the social investment fund (SIF) go much deeper and wider. The overarching question is whether the stated objectives of the social investment fund, worthy as they may be, could be more efficiently and effectively achieved through other means, and therefore whether the social investment fund is a worthwhile use of public money. <BR /> <BR />The implementation and operation of the social investment fund has been characterised by secrecy and cronyism.”
“Yes. How could we encourage those other states if we were to remove or water down —”
“<BR /> <BR />I do not want a United Kingdom Government from the right or the left to cherry-pick our rights. I firmly believe that the rights hard fought for through world wars and enshrined in the convention since 1953 are so important and so right. Through the processes of the Good Friday Agreement, they have been given to the citizens, and we must always protect them from attack. They must never be undermined or watered down. The removal of the Human Rights Act in the United Kingdom would send out the wrong message internationally. As a country with a historic past and connection to our Commonwealth, we must make sure that we set the standard and try to educate and encourage others to meet those standards.”
“I was not a member at that time. I wholly understand the flaws of all international bodies, and, where they are found wanting, we need to speak out. The Member is right to do so. <BR /> <BR />We in Northern Ireland have had our human rights enshrined in law, and Northern Ireland and Scotland have a particular interest in any change to the United Kingdom Human Rights Act. Others, such as Mr Attwood, have referred to the relationship between human rights and the Good Friday Agreement and the international agreements that underpin all of that. We have all felt what it is to be in a minority at one point or another in our life. We can also and should also understand how the Act protects our right to freedom of expression, our right to a fair trial and our right to freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.”
“Thank you. I sincerely hope and trust that, when Ministers or representatives of the Assembly have such an opportunity when they visit states that perhaps do not fully subscribe to international standards on human rights — we know that China does not — they take it. Indeed, we should ask our First Minister whether she has taken the opportunity to raise the issue of human rights.”
“Whatever the views of the House on a party that I may have some connection with — the Liberal Democrats — one of its achievements in the last Government was to defend the Human Rights Act from the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, and her attacks on the Act in favour of a British bill of rights. It is, today, for the Executive to commit to an action plan to ensure compliance with our obligations under human rights standards and to protect the Human Rights Act.”
“Our withdrawal from the EU will not and must not have any effect on our international convention requirements, whether they are those in respect of human rights or of the many other international conventions to which the United Kingdom is a signatory. <BR /> <BR />At this stage, I should declare an interest because I play a small part in the Council of Europe as I represent the Assembly in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. We too have a solemn duty to uphold that convention. <BR /> <BR />In 1998, the Human Rights Act brought into domestic law all the rights, freedoms and protections of the European Convention on Human Rights for citizens in the United Kingdom.”
“While Europe and all its institutions are greatly confusing for many, the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights are not part of the European Union; they are, of course, as others have mentioned, part of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is the custodian of the convention, which we entered into in 1953. Indeed, in large part, the United Kingdom was the fundamental author of the convention — I for one am proud of that — which, through the Council of Europe, represents not 28 states in the EU but 47 states of the Council of Europe. While the United Kingdom may be contemplating leaving the European Union, we are not leaving the Council of Europe, as the Prime Minister has made clear.”
“While I appreciate that the irony of a motion on human rights being tabled by Sinn Féin may not be lost on some in the Chamber, I nevertheless thank that party for bringing it forward in recognition of the journey that it and others in the Chamber have taken on human rights in Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom and around the world. The Alliance Party also intends to support the Green Party and SDLP amendments. <BR /> <BR />The European Court of Human Rights, the Human Rights Act and the Good Friday Agreement — yes, our Good Friday Agreement — all underpin the pillars of the democratic positions that we find ourselves in today: the right of Members to speak in the Chamber and the rights of our citizens across Northern Ireland.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. It has been widely rumoured amongst Members and officials in the Assembly that the Assembly is to be recalled during the week of 19 December to deal with a Budget statement. If that is so, why would it be so? Surely a Budget statement should be brought to the House either today or tomorrow.”
“As I said previously, there is good contact made between all schools in Northern Ireland and the Education Service. I genuinely believe that schools are fully aware of the programme that is available, but until they avail themselves of it, they will not understand the broad extent of the work that is done. <BR /> <BR />There are 72 primary schools and 18 post-primary schools in the Newry and Armagh constituency. Of the schools that were visited during this period, three were primary schools, with 95 participants, and 14 were post-primary schools, with 566 participants. I encourage all Members to encourage schools, as and when they visit them, to participate in the Assembly's education programmes.”
“The Education Service has a great deal of contact with schools right across Northern Ireland. At the beginning of every school year, it sends out letters to all schools explaining the programme and the resources available. Booking information is also available on the Education Service's website, and it tweets daily, uses social media and takes part in programmes. There is also a new subscription service available on the Assembly website that will allow teachers more direct contact.”
“I thank Mr Irwin for his question. Between 29 November 2015 and 28 November 2016, the Assembly Education Service provided programmes to 17 schools from the Newry and Armagh constituency. There were a total of 661 participants in the programmes. The Education Service delivered programmes to 15,316 young people during the period. The programmes were delivered in Parliament Buildings and in schools.”
“I thank the Member for his supplementary question. The Commission is aware of the provisions of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and is represented on the interdepartmental charter implementation group. The Commission will consider any guidance that arises from that group.”
“Once the Commission has had the opportunity to consider the matter and agree a way forward on languages, the detail will be developed. The development process will include consultation with relevant stakeholders, including Members, political parties and staff.”
“Mr McMullan, thank you for your question. The Assembly Commission's 'Good Relations Action Plan 2016-2021' was agreed by the Commission in October. It includes an action to agree a languages policy in 2017. That action was carried forward into the 'Good Relations Action Plan 2016-2021' from the previous action plan, which covered the period 2012-16. In November 2012, following consultation with political parties, the Commission considered a draft languages policy and associated guidance. However, the Commission was unable to reach political consensus on the matter in the last mandate. <BR /> <BR />At its September meeting, the Commission requested that a paper on the languages policy be presented to it in January 2017. Secretariat officials are currently preparing that paper.”
“I thank the First Minister for her answers so far. How can she provide assurance to the communities that she engages with that that engagement extends beyond the client base of her party, the DUP, and Sinn Féin given the recent issues around Charter and other issues that have raised concern in the community at this time?”
“Can you tell the House what those arrangements are and how you will be strengthening engagement? Do you agree with my assessment that the reality is that the British-Irish Council is not being used to its full potential and, indeed, that is indicative of the fact that your next meeting will not be until after article 50 is triggered?”
“Thank you, First Minister, for your statement, in which you say that arrangements:”
“The Minister referred to a strategic view, and it is important that there is a strategy for this road, not only for the tourists who use it and are regularly stopped because of landslips on to the road but, in particular, for the residents for whom it is the only way to get to work or school.”
“Minister, you will be relieved to know that we probably have flogged the York Street interchange to death for today, but, believe you me, we will be coming back to it.”
“Thank you, Minister, for your answers thus far. What criteria were used to prioritise other road schemes over the York Street interchange?”
“Thank you, Minister, for coming to the House today. How can you justify your failure to prioritise the busiest road junction in Northern Ireland? For most people in the House, it is, on any scale or standard, the single most important infrastructure project that you should have on your desk.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Minister, you will appreciate that, given the imminent and real danger to young people in East Antrim, particularly in Carrickfergus and Larne, intervention is vital for how we support our young people in those communities. In respect of dealing with paramilitaries, the Executive agreed an action plan, including an early intervention transformation programme. Have you met that board? What action will you take with the early intervention transformation programme board to deal with the matter?”
“I appreciate that this question relates to a constituency-specific subject. With regard to the minor works programme, what action does the Minister propose to take about the totally inadequate outdoor boys and girls' toilets at Greenisland Primary School — his predecessor having visited the school — which were put up in the 1930s and, to this day, are totally and wholly inadequate for children in the modern age?”
“On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. This morning, the Speaker very helpfully guided the House with regard to oral statements by Ministers in the House. Having had the opportunity to peruse Standing Orders, I feel that it would be helpful if the Speaker, as well as making requests of Ministers, would point out the veracity of Standing Orders. They state that in the circumstances where a Minister is free to attend the House — when we are not on holiday or closed down and it is a standing day of the Assembly — there should be no reason for a Minister not to make an oral statement to the House. I refer to an impending statement by the Minister of Infrastructure tomorrow that will be given in writing rather than orally to the House.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Further to the issues that have been discussed, at what stage will you run out of patience with those Ministers who will not come to the House? You indicated that you asked them to come. At what stage will you exercise your power to make them come?”
“— promote lawfulness and to stop rewarding to those who subscribe to lawlessness.”
“<BR /> <BR />We hope that, with a more detailed and thoughtful strategy for combating paramilitaries in Northern Ireland, the UK Government will then release funding. I have stated that Alliance has worked in the past to combat paramilitarism in Northern Ireland. Importantly, we have provided a number of suggestions to the Executive on working more effectively towards disbanding paramilitaries in Northern Ireland once and for all. We need smart, strategic thinking and a plan that will work. The duty of MLAs, Ministers and the Opposition is to —”
“How can legitimate social investment fund projects hope to work when they are discredited by a small minority that are moonlighting as defenders of their communities? It is 18 years since the Good Friday Agreement. We need to get money past the gatekeepers of disadvantaged communities. We need to get the money to the residents, tried-and-tested charities and community groups, not to individuals who will misuse the resources. Bona fide groups, such as the Churches and charities, have been battling for 40 years on the ground against paramilitaries and their insidious and corrosive activities. They should be awarded funding, not pop-up community groups created to deal with this money.”
“No, I will not. <BR /> <BR />We cannot expect the Department of Justice to take on the additional burden of our expectations on ending paramilitarism with reduced resources. I will come back to this point later. The action plan on tackling paramilitary activity, criminality and organised crime, needs to get back to the recommendations of the report on the 'Disbandment of Paramilitary Groups'. It is remarkable that two different names are even used. "Disbandment" represents action and outcomes, whereas "tackling" is representative of the Executive's weaker aims. <BR /> <BR />The Executive also need to stop legitimising paramilitaries in Northern Ireland by supporting pop-up groups through roundabout funding.”
“There is a danger that tackling paramilitaries will simply fall to the Department of Justice. That would be a mistake in two ways. First, paramilitarism cannot be tackled by Justice alone. When paramilitaries hold communities hostage, disrupt businesses, affect our infrastructure and harm our young people, they hold Northern Ireland back from reaching its potential. The second issue is a more practical one: the pressures on budgets both in the justice system and the PSNI.”
“Another problem is with youth intervention. It is often too late to intervene by the time young people are introduced to the criminal justice system. We need to work in communities at an early stage to deliver proper communities away from paramilitaries. <BR /> <BR />Other examples of flaws are in sections A1 and D1 of the action plan. Instead of a comprehensive rethink, with fresh thought on how to progress the disbandment of paramilitaries, we see the lazy recycling of existing strategies. Perhaps if the Programme for Government had not been so poor, the Executive could have made a real attempt to integrate strategies. Instead, there is a box-ticking exercise in the action plan to try to make it look more complete. <BR /> <BR />We need strong Executive action to implement the plan.”
“For example, section A4, which addresses youth intervention programmes, throws up a number of problems. The issues that permeate the action plan are the lack of timescales and the remarkable lack of detail in the action plan as to when anything will happen or how long it will take on nearly every single point.”
“No, I will not. <BR /> <BR />For Alliance, this proposal in relation to the protocol, which we suggested in 2015, is an absolute central plank of a new way forward that gets away from the gatekeepers and empowers alternative voices in the community. It is more important that it is not seen simply as a matter for the police and other criminal justice agencies but that it covers the entire public sector and makes it clear to bodies such as the Housing Executive and district councils what are the appropriate ways to engage. <BR /> <BR />I turn to the Sinn Féin amendment. We will not support it, because it weakens the motion. It aims to dilute a motion that calls for less weakness and for a strategy, timescales and implementation in the planned Fresh Start process.”
“No, I will not. <BR /> <BR />This is a clear example of why the proposals around protocols for dealing with paramilitary structures are so important. Everyone, from Ministers to public agencies and in between, needs to have a list of dos and don'ts. This is essential for a credible action plan. It needs to be in Northern Ireland's psyche what each one of us should do when we encounter paramilitaries and how we deal with them. One of those dos and one of those don'ts will be taking photographs. How do the Executive think law-abiding people feel when they see people getting a hand up who take the law as guidance and as something to dispense with when it is convenient?”
“It is about the predictable and consistent failing of the Executive to achieve anything resembling a substantive response to paramilitarism. Moreover, the credibility even of this poor plan hangs by a thread. <BR /> <BR />Alliance recognises the reality of engagement with some people, particularly those with a paramilitary past who are working to improve their communities. We are not being naive. Northern Ireland does have a unique problem with paramilitaries and criminal activity, but you cannot use this as a reason not to have clear objectives. However, when we see Government Ministers, including our First Minister, posing for photographs with current paramilitaries, a wrong and destructive message is being sent out. This is a clear example of why the proposals around protocols for dealing —”
“No, I will not. <BR /> <BR />The plan fails to identify which Departments have responsibility for specific actions. Often, it reads as if the Executive are trying to tick off recommendations by cross-referencing them to existing policies and programmes. There is little evidence of fresh thinking or a willingness to even engage in that. Perhaps the recommendations are too difficult for the DUP and Sinn Féin to contemplate. <BR /> <BR />The Alliance Party motion was, in fact, submitted before the Minister of Finance announced that the UK Government funding would not be released due to an undetailed action plan. At this point, I would like to thank SDLP and UUP colleagues for their amendment to update the motion and to state our support for that amendment, but this debate is about so much more than the lack of UK funding.”
“Even the UK Government agree with us on that, because they are not prepared to advance the appropriate funding. <BR /> <BR />The action plan is deficient in many, many ways. There is a clear lack of strategic analysis and the plan does not produce clear targets, timescales or resources for implementation.”
“The work of my party colleague, the former Justice Minister David Ford, during the Fresh Start negotiations drove forward plans to deal with paramilitarism. We supported the three-person panel on paramilitarism and welcomed its report. However, we are highly sceptical about the Executive's action plan response. That action plan was produced in June 2016 and is clearly very weak. In May, our party's negotiations, submitted to the DUP and Sinn Féin in relation to the Executive formation and the possibility of Alliance potentially taking up the offer of the Department of Justice, were, in part, based around a strong and robust action plan on paramilitarism. What we have seen very clearly is that any Alliance Justice Minister could not and would not sign up to a weak plan.”