Paula Bradshaw
South Belfast · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“They were places where those who were vulnerable were concealed, young mothers were stripped of their babies and children were stripped of their identities. Let us be resolute in our remembrance of what happened behind the doors of those institutions.”
“At all stages, the Committee has set out its clear support for the legislation's overarching aims and principles, which are to establish a statutory public inquiry into the systemic failings associated with mother-and-baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses between 1922 and 1995 and to create a statutory redress scheme for t…”
“Again, I refuse to call them "mother-and-baby homes", for we now know that there was nothing homely about them. What the Bill can and must do is offer a tangible declaration that the state accepts its responsibility.”
“As Chairperson of the Committee for the Executive Office, I welcome the opportunity to speak at the Final Stage of the Inquiry (Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses) and Redress Scheme Bill.”
“Key points were also made in relation to redress: the need to ensure that the Executive Office introduces clear guidelines for the scheme as soon as practicable; the need for the Executive Office to widely communicate and promote the scheme to all victims and survivors, including those who live overseas; and the need for the Executive Off…”
“The First Minister and deputy First Minister tabled a number of amendments that gave effect to the Committee's intent across a number of clauses. In several instances, the Committee chose to withdraw its amendments in favour of the Ministers' wording, where that better reflected the broader book of the law.”
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“— we think that there is a significant role for the champion in dealing with this.”
“We also need to recognise that, if we have a champion, people will feel that there is somebody backing their corner. It would also be important for such a champion to interconnect services, for example, in Youth Service provision, housing and skills development, in a way that ensures that as few people as possible are impacted by high levels of stress and anxiety. <BR /> <BR />There is also a case for the champion to be the first point of access and signpost people to key services. Perhaps we should look to set up a working group, as other charities have advocated. In other words, though I do not remotely wish to suggest that every case of poor mental health can be prevented —”
“<BR /> <BR />We respectfully ask whether the only role of the champion should be to protect and promote the interests of those suffering poor mental health. As I mentioned, problems have a range of sources that, if tackled, would stop people suffering a decline in mental health to begin with. In our view, there should be a fully independent champion whose role would be to protect and promote the interests of those suffering poor mental health and to raise awareness of the issues that impact on mental well-being and on how people can look after themselves mentally as well as physically. That is important not least because so many of those suffering poor mental health suffer in silence, and we must deal with the stigma of that.”
“<BR /> <BR />We see no point in dividing the House on the principle of the motion, as it is so important, and I commend the Member for tabling it. However, I will raise some queries, as others have done today. Clearly, the reference to finance from charitable or philanthropic sources is a fair attempt not to impose a budgetary burden. However, mental well-being is an area where we absolutely should impose a budgetary burden. Funding could, for example, be freed up in the reform, through the expert panel, of existing services and programmes in the health service. That could be used more effectively to invest in comprehensive mental health services and prevention, including but not limited to a champion, a position backed by the Association for Mental Health.”
“That is why the Alliance manifesto proposed a mental trauma service, alongside work on what is frequently termed "dealing with the past". We must remember that, for many, dealing with the past is, in fact, very much dealing with the present. <BR /> <BR />Finally, an area of particular emphasis: we should reflect that what is referred to as "mental health" is not just a Department of Health issue. Although this is not universal, mental health issues often arise as a result of social isolation and marginalisation. Poor educational attainment, unemployment, poor physical health, personal debt and a raft of other factors can seriously impact on mental well-being. Of course, these have to be tackled at source, thus preventing, as far as we can, poor mental health in the first place.”
“Like others, we wish mental health made central to the public health system and to public health promotion, and we welcome the programmes already ongoing to make that a reality. <BR /> <BR />Secondly, we have to be aware not just of the real challenges faced by people who experience poor mental health and those close to them but of their rights. It is vital that the Mental Capacity Act, a significant achievement of the last Executive, is fully and swiftly implemented. In particular, we need to increase awareness of issues that arise in the youth justice system. <BR /> <BR />Thirdly, it is essential that we do not focus solely on the Troubles and the legacy of conflict, although we need to be aware that there are issues still needing to be addressed.”
“I support the motion. A champion for mental health was an Alliance Party manifesto commitment, and we are keen to get cross-community support to deliver one. It is hard to measure these things precisely, but there seems little doubt that Northern Ireland experiences the poorest mental health in the UK. We must see this as an opportunity to tackle the issue and deliver improvements that could be referenced globally. <BR /> <BR />I would like to take the opportunity to outline some of the Alliance Party's commitments on mental health that, I am sure, other parties will support, because this is an absolutely non-partisan issue. First, we want to see the implementation of the Bamford review and the personality disorder strategy. It is possible that, by raising awareness, the motion will increase the pressure for that.”
“I, therefore, ask all party leaders to make a statement confirming that they will not use the petition of concern in such a way and to make clear to the public that any Member found in breach of standards will be sanctioned appropriately.”
“This kind of nonsense leads only to public dissatisfaction with ethical standards. I suggest to Members that, if they want the public to take us seriously, sanctions must be applied equally to all Members. The commissioner's recent annual report states:”
“Standing Order 69 now provides an exemplar, which, I believe, all elected representatives and public bodies should seek to match. It is clear that the register of interests has to be published and updated and that it must include the interests of new Members within 28 days of their election. <BR /> <BR />All this is fine until we get to the sanctions section, as my colleague from the Committee mentioned. It remains the case that sanctions, even against a Member who has clearly failed to comply with the rules, can be blocked by a party or combination of parties large enough to sign a petition of concern. This is ludicrous, as it means, in effect, that Members from larger parties do not have to adhere to the rules at all, provided that their colleagues are prepared to sign a piece of paper in their defence.”
“I do not intend to speak for long, but I am pleased to see the realignment of the code of conduct and corresponding changes to the guide and rules coming before the House. <BR /> <BR />Clearly, it is helpful to affirm the importance of ethical standards in the Assembly at a time when public confidence in politicians remains lower than we would wish it to be. Anything that adds clarity to the rules, not just for Members but for the general public, is useful, and that is what the changes to rules 4 and 5 of the code of conduct and consequential revisions to the guide do. <BR /> <BR />There is one particular issue that I would like to raise. Members may know that, from my time on Belfast City CounciI, I have a long-standing interest in ensuring the highest standards with regard to the register of interests.”
“I emphasise to the House that it would be the height of irresponsibility if the Executive have no such plan in place.”
“<BR /> <BR />Most recently, the very high-profile expert panel, which is led by Professor Bengoa, told us, as I suppose he told all parties, that he is holding meetings with the Health Department in the Republic of Ireland to see where both of us can look at aligning all-Ireland reform of our neighbouring health and social care sectors. We both have finite resources and see that strong cross-community cooperation is vital. <BR /> <BR />The question now for the Executive is this: what is the contingency plan to ensure that that cross-border cooperation can continue to ensure that Northern Ireland's health and social care sector can access the latest medical research and avoid being forced to withdraw from a single market against the will of the majority of people in Northern Ireland?”
“There are now high-profile cross-border arrangements for children's cardiac surgery procedures, for example, that 25 children from Northern Ireland have benefited from since 2014, and there is the cross-border healthcare directive, which is an EU directive that allows people to avail themselves of services and programmes in other EU countries if they are not available in their own country. For example, the Smarmore Castle Private Clinic has helped many individuals in Northern Ireland avail themselves of residential treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, which is a service that is not available here. Those are just a few examples.”
“The reality of leaving the EU, particularly if we are forced out of the single market, is that there will be a very significant impact on medical advancement through the end of EU-funded, EU-wide medical research projects in which academics and medical researchers share knowledge and resources to contribute to the advancement of less-intrusive screening, quicker diagnoses, and the discovery of treatments and medical equipment that improve prognoses for patients. We will now be outside those processes, and it will cost us dearly, not just financially but in human costs, to avail ourselves of that research for local application. <BR /> <BR />I turn now to our nearest EU partner. Thankfully, over the last few years, we have seen the emergence of mature political cooperation on the island of Ireland, nowhere more so than in healthcare.”
“People living with a long-term condition or those who care for them were led to believe that Brexit was an opportunity to invest in local services, to provide more appointments with GPs and to speed up surgical procedures. As all in the House know, all politics is local, and some people will have naturally seen the referendum through that prism of being reliant on a well-resourced health sector. <BR /> <BR />Already, prominent "Leave" campaigners have admitted that that is simply not so.”
“I will give way in a minute. <BR /> <BR />It does not exist, even at a UK level, in any case. Yet, many of the people who voted to leave last Thursday to will have listened to that pledge and, more importantly, will have believed it. It will have informed their choice. Many of them will be very vulnerable and very reliant on the health and social care sector and will now feel very deceived by the political class, who, frankly, should have known better. <BR /> <BR />It is well documented that the most marginalised communities across the United Kingdom will be those most reliant on an effective and responsive health and social care sector.”
“Health is, without question, one of the areas that will be most negatively affected by the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union. That is why it was so outrageous that the "Leave" campaign used the notion of redirecting £50 million per day from EU contributions to the NHS when it was clear that they had neither the intention nor the power to make that happen. <BR /> <BR />Even according to the "Leave" campaign's figures, Northern Ireland is a net beneficiary from the EU, and the economic damage that is already apparent in the withdrawal of investment, only this morning, demonstrates that that supposed extra money simply does not exist —”
“Does the Justice Minister agree that the investigation into the Kingsmills massacre demonstrated the need for a robust system for investigating the past? What negotiations is she involved in to establish institutions to do this?”
“The amendment, in the context of the full motion, will show that the Assembly is on the side of the people, on the side of good practice and on the side of fairness in society.”
“We also know of cases in which the letting agents do not act with total consideration for their tenants. We heard from Clare Bailey that administration and upfront fees can be very expensive and without justification. As Michelle Gildernew said, that can lead to tenants having to choose in the first month whether to pay the fees or feed their family. <BR /> <BR />The amendment is not anti-business. The inclusion of the clause is also to regulate letting agents. It will bring about an equitable and balanced structure, as articulated by Jonathan Bell, between the basic needs of the tenant to secure shelter and the commercial needs of the landlord and the business. <BR /> <BR />We often hear about cleaning up business practice.”
“This insecurity leaves them susceptible to accepting living conditions and contractual agreements that people negotiating from a position of strength would not even consider. <BR /> <BR />In circumstances in which letting agents broker rental agreements, we in the Alliance Party feel that they have an important role to play in protecting the tenant. As Alex Maskey pointed out, letting agents operating in the sector are aware of the good landlords and the unscrupulous ones — the ones who provide safe, clean accommodation; and those who disregard the needs of their tenants, with a fixation only on profit-making. <BR /> <BR />The amendment would positively govern the duty of care to tenants and, as Roy Beggs pointed out, provide clear lines of responsibility for repairs, for example.”
“Thank you for all the contributions agreeing to accept the Alliance Party amendment. In many cases, when individuals or families seek to rent a residential property, it is due to a change in their personal circumstances. It may be a positive move relating to a new job in a new town, but it can be due to a breakdown in family relationships, redundancy, or, like many cases in South Belfast, as Christopher Stalford highlighted, people arriving from other parts of the world with basic English and little knowledge of our laws and their protections. <BR /> <BR />In the latter cases, the people involved will be incredibly vulnerable, as referenced by Nichola Mallon, and anxious to secure a safe place to live as soon as possible.”
“Does the Minister recognise that the UK Government do not place the same priority on supporting rural communities and farms as we do here in Northern Ireland? I ask you this: how can you be confident that they would get the same level of support from the UK Government, who have different priorities?”
“— but I absolutely oppose doing that while leaving segregation in place and deliberately mismatching skills.”
“I appreciate that that was the case, but we are now two years into the council term. Many of them should be up to speed by now. <BR /> <BR />How far, for example, will we travel in the right direction on a good jobs index if we are not adequately investing in skills? How do we increase the proportion of graduates moving into employment within six months if we continue deliberately to train hundreds of young people for careers that we know do not exist? Many more such questions arise from the Budget and Programme for Government process. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, I summarise by saying that the Programme for Government framework requires a re-imaging of how we do public services, but I see little re-imaging of how we do the Budget. In principle, I have no objection to borrowing more money or raising more revenue in a fair way —”
“The failure, for example, to devolve urban regeneration to councils is a step away from an outcomes-based approach, not towards one. <BR /> <BR />For some of the reasons outlined, the whole purpose of the new approach is for communities to have a greater say in their health provision, their welfare provision, their education and everything else. The problem with the Budget is that it does nothing to demonstrate how the new approach outlined in the framework has been taken into account.”
“The second of those — the management of expectations — again requires more realistic engagement with the public and local communities about how far the taxes and rates they pay will go. An outcomes-based approach requires more honesty from civic leaders, including politicians, that not every demand can or even should be met and that often the issue is not how much money is spent but how it is spent. I therefore ask how the Executive parties propose to openly and honestly engage with the public on the need to reform services, including merging institutions and relocating services for the greater long-term good. <BR /> <BR />There is also the issue of more local allocation of funding, which the Executive parties have not been comfortable with until this point.”
“In health, of course, we have been told by reviews, reports and panels that we need to re-image the health service, yet absolutely no work has been done to explain that to local communities, who fear that reform, which would, in fact, be good for their health, is actually a loss of some sort.”
“An outcomes-based approach would see the notion of community-based schooling — allocating budgets not to the interests of individual schools but for the overall local communities they serve — taken seriously. We have supposedly been doing this for some time, but there is scant evidence of any actual outcome.”
“<BR /> <BR />The outcome-based approach that Scotland has been developing for nearly a decade is genuinely innovative. The fundamental question is whether this Budget is genuinely innovative too. Scots involved with developing the approach will tell you that it requires tackling vested interests — notably institutions — managing expectations and more local allocation of funding, often well beyond central government. <BR /> <BR />On the first of those, my colleagues have given an obvious example: it is clear that we do not need to train so many teachers in segregated colleges. Continuing to do so is the precise opposite of the outcome-based approach the Executive parties are now embarked on and supposedly supporting. The same applies, frankly, to education and health.”
“How much of that is being allocated in the most efficient manner? For those responsible for the programmes under each indicator, are they able to take a broad view, beyond their individual silo, to allocate the funds in the most efficient manner and with accountability? <BR /> <BR />We have already this term had a debate in the Assembly on illegal drugs, which particularly affect health in the areas where life expectancy is broadly lowest. Yet, this is not a Department of Health issue and nor is housing, welfare provision or education. All of those have an impact on health. The same applies to increasing healthy life expectancy, improving mental health and reducing preventable deaths, as they are all issues that go well beyond any Department.”
“Therefore, I intend to take my time here to be constructive and ask questions about whether we are really aligning some of the better aspects of that framework with our Budget priorities, particularly around health. <BR /> <BR />The Programme for Government framework has 14 outcomes. A first step will be to consider how much of the overall devolved Budget is allocated to each outcome, perhaps also considering if there is any other money, for example through welfare expenditure or, dare I say, EU funding, that can usefully complement it. Doing that will not be an exact science, but it will usefully help allocate responsibility for each outcome and lines of accountability for delivery. That may be usefully extended to indicators. How much of the Budget is being allocated to reducing health inequality, for example?”
“We do not believe in buildings; we believe in services. We encouraged those institutions to work together to come up with a workable solution that would have saved money from the public purse. <BR /> <BR />As I said, the failure to invest adequately in skills and training where it is required renders pointless any attempt at promoting inward investment by taking a further chunk out of our public service budget to reduce corporation tax in certain cases. <BR /> <BR />The Programme for Government actually offers hope for the future. It is mystifying why some parties who were involved in the work that went into it have now turned their back on it completely.”
“Thank you. <BR /> <BR />Earlier today and this afternoon, we have heard many issues arising from the Budget. I emphasise that I oppose the motion, but I wish to put forward a constructive viewpoint of opposition to it. It bears repeating that we are very concerned by the failure to consider the long term adequately, the failure to tackle vested interests, particularly segregated institutions, which means money is wasted on buildings that are not necessary, and the failure to invest adequately in skills and training where it is required, rendering it —”
“I have two points to make before I get into the body of my speech. First of all, I pass on my good wishes to Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, my South Belfast colleague, in his role as Finance Minister. I would also like to address a comment made by Edwin Poots and the irony of his criticism of the Alliance Justice Minister for his approach to addressing the reform of legal aid and the Prison Service head on, despite the fact that successive DUP Health Ministers, during the last mandate, failed to make any inroads into the need for reform in the health and social care sector. It is rather ironic that he chose to do that.”
“How many of them do we need to tell us the same thing before we embark firmly on the reform process? <BR /> <BR />On these Benches, we will not oppose for opposition's sake, but we are absolutely opposed to waste, inaction and undue delay. Too many people have waited too long for action on reform to make our health service fit for purpose for the thousands of patients currently waiting for vital treatment.”
“That, of course, speaks to the general failure, which we can predict, of the Executive to get serious about general public sector reform and, not least, tackling and reducing the cost of division. <BR /> <BR />The appalling situation with waiting lists is a direct consequence of inaction on reform. The Minister now has her opportunity to make her mark, and she may rely on us in the Alliance Party to be constructive, if she pursues reform in the manner long known to be necessary. She is about to receive a report and recommendations from the expert panel that will tell her exactly what her predecessor heard from Donaldson, who told him what one of his predecessors had heard from Compton. So it goes on. We have had enough reviews, reports, commissions and panels.”
“The fact is that there will be very few successful bids in the forthcoming monitoring round, a consequence of the previous Executive's inability to make tough financial decisions, even when the case was clear.”
“Let us be clear: we do not have endless amounts of money to throw at it. Reform is necessary. Certainly, we need to do all we can to help those on waiting lists now, but we should also be reforming now, to make sure that by the end of this decade no one will face a wait of anything like the length currently being experienced by so many. <BR /> <BR />It would be interesting to hear from the Health Minister the details of how much of the money allocated to the problem by her predecessor was in fact spent directly dealing with waiting lists. Further, I was concerned to hear in the Health Minister's statement yesterday that she feels that her ability to tackle the issue seems to depend on successful bids in the June monitoring round.”
“If that person has multiple sclerosis (MS), dementia or Parkinson's disease, to name but a few, they will spend all that time without vital medication, support or even expert information, and their general health will also certainly deteriorate because of the uncertainty. Families and circles of friends are, of course, badly affected too. That is the narrative that we are talking about: not numbers on a page but real lives being lived. It is truly horrifying that anyone would have to wait for a year and a half in such a situation. <BR /> <BR />It is worth emphasising that the problem, which is worse here than anywhere else in the UK by any reasonable comparison, is the product of an unreformed health service. We have seen money being thrown at the problem in recent months, and yet there has been only a slight improvement.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am also proud to know every corner of the constituency, having spent the last two decades working at the grass roots. In my opinion, South Belfast is the most cosmopolitan part of Northern Ireland, and to have this opportunity to represent it and the people in it during the forthcoming period, with exciting developments awaited from Great Victoria Street to Carryduff, is a real privilege. <BR /> <BR />On the subject of waiting lists, I commend and support the motion at the outset and thank the proposers for bringing it to the Floor. We should not forget the narrative behind this. Someone waiting for a potential diagnosis of a neurological condition, for example, is being left with the worry and concern about that for the entire duration of the wait.”
“It is appropriate that I make my maiden speech on waiting lists, a subject raised probably more often than any other on the doorsteps. <BR /> <BR />In the past, as a city councillor. I worked on many cases with my predecessor Anna Lo, as we tried our best to get that crucial operation or vital diagnosis. Anna, of course, rightly earned a reputation as someone who cared deeply about every case. She recognised naturally that the people bringing cases to her were not just numbers on a page. It was that human touch, more than anything else, that enabled her to break the mould. Anna was also keen to work across all divides, which is why she was so beloved in South Belfast. She attracted support from every corner of the constituency, and hers are certainly big shoes to fill — not literally, admittedly.”
“What resources will she allocate in this financial year to build the capacity, infrastructure and human resources? To date, there has been very little evidence of that through Transforming Your Care. I want some reassurance that that money will flow down through there.”