Nick Mathison
Strangford · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“That second part is important. In the scrutiny of the Minister's Bill on school uniforms, we got a little tied up over how we could build in provisions on PE, but, when we got to work on this Bill, we found that there is a simple formulation that will ensure that participation in sport and PE, which, we should remember, is a statutory par…”
“<BR /> <BR />On the basis of that feedback and the other evidence that we received, two draft approaches to developing the Bill were considered. The first was to create a separate, stand-alone Bill with a stand-alone right for pupils to be afforded the choice to wear trousers and to set that out in law.”
“Many schools do that really well, but others, regrettably, do not. To me, only legislation will guarantee the behaviour change that we need. It is not good enough for a Minister to say to young people, "But I give you permission to go and campaign. You run the campaign. Look at Rhea and Astrid: didn't they do so well?".”
“I will name a few: the school uniform must be affordable, so schools have no autonomy on that; and schools must consult with parents when they are changing their policy, so they have no autonomy on that. I could go through every one of the guidelines.”
“depending on the activity. That was to ensure that the need for appropriate clothing for sporting activities was reflected. <BR /> <BR />Ultimately, it is a permissive Bill. It is simply focused on creating a universal right to have the choice to wear trousers and enshrining that in the guidance.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will not speak for long, and I do not plan to rehearse everything that has been said. However, I begin by doing something that I overlooked when I spoke at the beginning: thanking the Deputy Chair of the Committee who first proposed the Bill.”
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“<BR /> <BR />The Good Friday Agreement contains a specific pledge to facilitate and encourage integrated education as an essential element in the process of reconciliation. Last year, when celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the Prime Minister said that integrated education should be the norm and not the exception. Indeed, only a few weeks ago, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Lord Caine stated that,”
“There are schools up and down the country, in every constituency, represented by every Member, that urgently require maintenance, new buildings and substantial refurbishment, and we are all aware of the need for capital investment to meet the needs of our special educational needs (SEN) learners. Years of chronic underfunding of our education system and multiple collapses of the Assembly have all contributed to the dire situation that we find ourselves in. The motion does not intend to downplay the needs of any school requiring capital investment. We are simply urging colleagues across the House to assure the 10 directly impacted schools that we recognise the utterly unacceptable position that they have been put in and that all that can be done to remedy the situation will, indeed, be done.”
“The motion, in the first instance, seeks to reassure the 10 impacted integrated schools that the Assembly is speaking with a collective voice in calling for the UK Government to reverse their decision to remove ring fencing from £150 million of Fresh Start funding and to confirm that we are committed to providing capital funding to support the impacted schools with their building projects. We must be clear that, despite the actions of the UK Government, the money is not lost to the Executive and that the Minister must do all he can to bring it back under the control of his Department, with a commitment to ensure that it is invested in the schools that have been so badly let down. <BR /> <BR />Of course, we recognise that there is an immediate and pressing need for capital investment across the whole school estate.”
“No prior engagement was undertaken with them, and absolutely no democratic scrutiny was undertaken of the significant intervention from the UK Government to remove the ring-fencing from the Fresh Start funding scheme.”
“I declare an interest, as my wife is a teacher in Millennium Integrated Primary School, which is one of the schools that has been impacted on by the recent decision taken by the UK Government. <BR /> <BR />Last month, 10 schools in Northern Ireland received the devastating news that funding for their new building projects had been withdrawn. For many, the new buildings had been in the pipeline for years, with significant preparation and adjustments having been made to the school estate to allow for works that some of the schools involved believed would start in the very near future. The affected schools received no notice of the decision.”
“I thank the Minister for his engagement on the issue. Will he provide an update on the plans to redevelop the Whitespots country park, which is in the area in question?”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. Given the extensive financial and resource pressures on your Department, which you have outlined, do you have any clarity on the precise cost implications of the legacy Act for the criminal justice system?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does he agree that one of the ways that the Minister of Education and the Minister for Communities can work together on that is by looking at how data sharing could bring in auto-enrolment for free school meals? Around 20% of parents whose children are eligible for free school meals do not access them. If those Departments could work together, work could be done in that area.”
“— particularly how it impacts on girls. We receive reports that the uniform that is required for a lot of girls to access PE means that they do not participate or, indeed, leads to their being excluded from PE. A review should factor in that issue.”
“I thank the Member for taking another intervention. I just wanted to refer to PE —”
“While we support the motion and its call to introduce statutory guidance, I hope that this debate will draw out some of the failures around the system in England to deliver. <BR /> <BR />The cost of school uniforms has been an issue for years. It is only going to get worse as the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact on family finances. I therefore urge all Members across the House to support our amendment to demonstrate that we are serious about tackling the issue, which is having a harmful impact on families across Northern Ireland every year.”
“We do not believe that words and aspirations are enough any longer, because, regrettably, boards of governors have not complied with the guidance in many instances, and learning from England suggests that the statutory guidance that was introduced in that jurisdiction, unfortunately, has not been complied with either and that students and families face the same costs and pressures. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the motion's call on the Minister of Education to conclude the review of eligibility for the school uniform grant. I urge the Minister to act as soon as possible to publish the review's results to ensure that as many families as possible can benefit from an enhanced grant this September.”
“Ideally, we would like to see that set independently and a body established to be responsible for setting the affordable cap each year. The cap would be the maximum amount that any board of governors could require a parent or guardian to pay for their child's school uniform. We hope that, as soon as possible, possibly on a phased basis, the school uniform grant can align with and be fixed at the same amount as the school uniform cap, meaning that those most in need would receive financial assistance that covers the actual cost of the uniform, not a gesture towards it. That measure would ensure that meaningful steps are taken to drive down costs.”
“Pupils highlighted the fact that, in some sixth-form settings, costs rise again. There are specialised blazers for sixth form and specialised blazers if you are appointed a prefect. Again, that is a further uniform cost when you might have a blazer that fits perfectly well available from the previous year. It has been noted that uniforms help to promote equality among pupils and take away the pressure to fit in based on how you dress every day, but it is disappointing that that pressure, which might be passed to a pupil if they had to wear something other than a uniform every day, is now passed on as a financial pressure to the parent. <BR /> <BR />Our amendment seeks to implement a price cap on total school uniform costs.”
“While, almost without exception, the children agreed that the concept of wearing a uniform has some merit as an equalising force in schools, concerns were repeatedly raised that it further embedded socio-economic divides that they were already highly conscious of in their schools. Older students remarked that they were acutely aware of the impact of the high cost of uniforms and PE kits on their parents and on family life. Students should not be bearing the stress of the financial strain that their parents face just to enable them to attend school. Again, it is not acceptable. <BR /> <BR />The expense of starting secondary school has been repeatedly highlighted to me by students, with tighter uniform requirements and the branded items really coming to the fore.”
“Parents in Northern Ireland, in particular, have higher levels of concern about those costs compared with those in any other jurisdiction in the UK. The parents here who were surveyed cited the cost of school uniforms as their primary concern. <BR /> <BR />In thinking about this issue, I have been lucky enough to meet a number of children and young people over the past year or so to discuss their ideas and concerns when it comes to school uniforms. I thank the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People's youth panel and the Secondary Students' Union of Northern Ireland for their engagement with me on the issue.”
“<BR /> <BR />Save the Children shared a particularly heartbreaking story about a single parent who had always struggled with paying for the cost of uniforms. She received a grant, but it did not cover the cost of the uniform, so she ended up in a scenario where she was borrowing money and incurring further debt. She eventually had to request that her parents step in to clear the debt in order for her to get her finances back on a stable footing. That is somebody who received the grant that is meant to support parents with the cost. <BR /> <BR />The Parentkind national parent survey 2023 found that nearly one in three parents in Northern Ireland struggles with the overall cost of sending their child to school.”
“For many, the impact is felt over several months as they deal with mounting debt, which they then have to bear the burden of over the year. <BR /> <BR />After PE kits, which have been raised as a particular problem, with branded items being insisted on in uniform policies, blazers and shoes are cited as the next most challenging items to purchase. Those who were polled felt that, across the board, school boards of governors are not doing enough in their policies to keep the costs down. We know that the school uniform grant here is significantly less than what is available in other parts of the UK. The parents polled who are eligible for the grant said that it is never enough, due to the uncapped costs of uniforms being so high.”
“<BR /> <BR />In that same survey, respondents told us about having to use credit cards, incur debt or borrow money from family or having to rely on grandparents on an annual basis to cover the costs of uniforms and PE kits, with spending on food, energy and fuel often being reduced to meet the cost. That is done to meet the cost of something for a child when that child has a right to attend school and that parent has a legal duty to send them. That cannot be acceptable. Many of those who were polled spoke personally about the dread, stress and worry that they feel each year as they think about buying new uniforms and their children starting school in September. Those are not words that should be associated with your child's journey through the education system.”
“Data from the Save the Children survey across Northern Ireland tells us that, in 2023, six in 10 families struggled to cover the cost of school uniforms and PE kits. An astonishing 73% of low-income families that were surveyed said that they found purchasing school uniforms and PE kits financially challenging, with 49% of middle-income families reporting the same issues. Another worrying figure that emerged from the survey was that one in 10 parents said that their child had missed out on school due to issues relating to school uniform or PE kits. The cost of school uniforms and PE kits is preventing children accessing their right to education. That cannot be allowed to continue.”
“The issue really cannot be allowed to make another appearance in the summer and then go away for another year. We have been in that cycle for too long. We need to listen to parents and guardians and act as soon as possible to get the issue under control. <BR /> <BR />I thank, in particular, Naomi McBurney from Save the Children for all the hard work that she has undertaken on the issue. The round-table event in the Long Gallery that many Members here attended back in November provided a very stark insight into the harm that is caused by uncapped school uniform costs and that is visited on families every year. I also note the previous work that Pat Sheehan referenced through the parental engagement group and the research that it carried out on the issue.”
“Alliance is pleased to support the motion. We hope that the House will also accept our amendment, which, as I will set out, will help to further tackle extortionate uniform costs. <BR /> <BR />I am delighted to see the motion being debated. I think that we all know just how many families in our constituencies are suffering as a result of the ever-rising cost of school uniforms. Every August, the media cover the issue and we hear genuinely heartbreaking stories of families getting into debt and sometimes having to skip meals to meet the cost of their child's school uniform, which, for many post-primaries, can run into the hundreds of pounds. Therefore, I welcome that we are having the debate now in March. We are not having it as we look at a cliff edge in September.”
“I urge every Member in the Chamber to learn more during Facial Palsy Awareness Week about the condition and its impacts, and to act on behalf of their constituents to help deliver progress. I call again on the Health Minister to prioritise delivery of a pathway for patients and an in-reach service with clinical experts while that is developed.”
“For some, the facial palsy will be temporary and will pass, but, for many, it will be lifelong and debilitating.”
“Here, in 2024, work has stopped and started, and those promises have not been delivered upon. We urgently need a pathway leading to a multidisciplinary team across physiotherapy, neurology, ear, nose and throat, psychology and surgery when required. The Health Minister must deliver on assurances previously given. I know that work is ongoing in the Department and that there is a small team of officials who are working hard on this, but this must be expedited and it must be properly resourced. It is no longer acceptable for facial palsy patients to sit on waiting lists across multiple clinical disciplines and then, when eventually seen, to be dealt with by a doctor who is not an expert on their condition. <BR /> <BR />Each one of us in the Chamber will have constituents who are impacted by this little-understood condition.”
“We have no pathway for these patients, and I have no doubt that if a similar survey were carried out just here, we would not be achieving even close to that one in 10 figure. <BR /> <BR />It has been a privilege for me over the past number of years to work with patient activist Janet Robb on this issue. She has been campaigning since 2017 to deliver a pathway for patients living with facial palsy. By June 2019, I was privileged to be in a meeting with Janet and Health and Social Care Board officials, who gave assurances that a pathway would be delivered for Northern Ireland and, crucially, that an interim in-reach service would be provided to ensure that these patients received treatment while they waited for a proper service here in Northern Ireland.”
“This week is Facial Palsy Awareness Week. Facial palsy is a poorly understood condition, sadly characterised by misdiagnosis and delay in accessing treatment. It has wide-ranging impacts on those living with it, both physical and, at times, profoundly psychological. Facial paralysis is, sadly, often assumed to be only a temporary problem that will pass. Patients — disproportionately, that applies to women — are left, at times for months, without even referrals being made, let alone treatment being received. A recent Facial Palsy UK survey found that only one in 10 facial palsy patients felt that their GP understood the impact of their condition. In Northern Ireland, we have no facial palsy service.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. There is a lot of concern that children who were placed in specialist provision in mainstream schools, particularly in the new units that sprang up in large numbers last year in our preschool settings, were not able to access their full place, or they were not able to fulfil a full week because the facilities were not properly completed. Will the Minister give an assurance that any new classes that are established will allow the children who are placed in them to access the full provision, as their peers in mainstream education would expect?”
“I finish my remarks with some reflections from a special school principal whom I had the opportunity to meet last week. She made the stark observation that many of the pupils in her care have life-limiting conditions and that some, sadly, may not complete their time in school. She was clear that those children cannot wait for another report or another debate; they need action now. I hope that the Assembly will speak with one voice on the issue today and support the motion.”
“I am afraid that I am really running short of time. Apologies. <BR /> <BR />I thank the parents involved with SEN Reform NI, particularly for their engagement on the issues and their willingness to share their stories so personally. They should not have to share those painful personal stories to get the issue on the agenda, but they have done so in the hope that what we do in this place can bring about some change for them. It was an absolute privilege to meet some of those parents and children here today. It was a big deal for some of them to make the trip here and be present. It really is appreciated. <BR /> <BR />This is not a situation that we can accept for our children. Crisis has become the norm. It is time to meaningfully commit to investing in transformation and action.”
“I welcome suggestions that there will be an earmarked capital budget for SEN, and I hope that that can progress. <BR /> <BR />I mention briefly the non-teaching staff pay and grading review. It is imperative, if we are going to transform SEN services, that that work is taken forward and that business case is delivered. We cannot transform the system if we do not have expert and committed staff there to deliver it.”
“<BR /> <BR />I welcome the independent review of education's acknowledgment that there is a serious problem in how we confirm those places for children with SEN. Its recommendation around the ending of the system of those placements being treated as supernumerary is something that the Department needs to take away. Parents should have confidence that their child will have a place, not that they will be tacked on to the end of some other mainstream admissions process. Money alone will not address the issues. It is clear, however, that investment is required. Money will be needed to make this happen, but we need that investment to be strategic. It needs to be done on a recurring basis, and it needs to allow the Department and the EA to plan properly to transform the services.”
“We cannot repeat what we saw last year, where parents described feeling that they were utterly broken by the process of acquiring a statement. Sometimes, histrionic language is used in the Chamber and Members overstate their case to make a point, but that is a phrase that parents have used with me repeatedly while sitting in my office: that they feel broken and that nobody is listening. We cannot let that continue. <BR /> <BR />We should not have a system that is based on a fight. We should not have to fight for something that parents of children without any additional needs simply take for granted: a school placement. You apply, and you get your place. We cannot accept that a fight is necessary. That is not acceptable or normal. None of us should tolerate it.”
“However, there is a need for action now if we are going to make sure that the parents who are already looking to September with huge anxiety can be reassured that the Department is working as hard as it can to ensure that their children get a placement. <BR /> <BR />In August 2023, there were 149 children with statements of special educational needs, many with complex learning needs, still awaiting the allocation of a school placement. Immediate action must be taken now to ensure that we do not see those mistakes being repeated, especially for pupils in those key transition stages. I hope that, today, in his response, the Minister will clearly set out what his Department is doing to address SEN placements in those key transition years for September 2024.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is my understanding, further to the Minister's contribution in the Chamber today, that an action plan is due in the summer or perhaps early autumn, which is encouraging. However, I must be clear: it must be a clear action plan to deliver meaningful transformation. It cannot be another suite of recommendations; it cannot be another report; it cannot suggest that another review is required. Parents have waited long enough, and they need to hear clearly what the Department will do, when it will do it and how success will be measured. Anything less than that would be a wasted process that will achieve nothing. <BR /> <BR />I also hope that the motion is clear that action is needed now. Long-term transformation is vital if we are going to get this right and not be back in the Chamber having this debate year in, year out.”
“Support for learners with SEN should simply be normal practice that is embedded at every level of our education system. Early intervention must become the norm. <BR /> <BR />The motion and my comments are clear in assessing the situation as one of failure. However, I want to acknowledge the work that the EA and the Department are undertaking through the end-to-end review of SEND. The principle that they set out and that I have heard at many engagements with them of all children and young people getting the right support from the right people at the right time and in the right place is welcome and receives my full support. That is the ambition that we should all aspire to.”
“That was discussed during the Minister of Education's Question Time today. Shortages of educational psychologists in the EA mean that families face huge delays in the process, and the 26-week statutory time frame that I have referred to is regularly breached. Valid exceptions criteria are regularly brought into play, and the process is delayed. <BR /> <BR />I want to be clear: parents of children with special educational needs or disabilities should absolutely be able to pursue their legal right to acquire a statement of special educational needs and to acquire the protections in law that their children are entitled to. However, we should not be operating a system where a statement is sometimes the only mechanism by which a child with additional needs can receive support.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. I cannot promise that I will take too many more, as I have a lot to get through. There seem to be serious questions about the Education Authority's ability to get a handle on the matter. I hope that we will hear from the Minister about a plan of action to address that. <BR /> <BR />I will sum up the last section of my remarks by saying that learners find themselves in a system that focuses just on delivering the placement and getting the box ticked rather than on the provision that is appropriate for them. That cannot be acceptable. <BR /> <BR />A lack of meaningful support for children at the point when needs are identified means that many parents have no option left to support their child other than to go for the parental request for a statutory assessment.”
“In December 2023, there were over 215 children in crucial transition years who were still on the waiting list for a statement of special educational needs (SEN) and surpassing the legal 26-week limit. Some of the children on the list had already been waiting for over 52 weeks for the statement to be finalised. Far too many children are being left behind their peers, placed in a school that is not appropriate for their needs or left at the start of the school term without a placement altogether.”
“Many parents end up feeling that they have no alternative other than to go to the media to give their case profile to secure a placement. Parents describe the concept of "the fight" that they must undertake to give their child access to that most basic human right: an education.”
“<BR /> <BR />Communication between the Education Authority (EA) and parents is poor and, at times, non-existent, and cross-departmental work between Health and Education remains a noble ambition but, in reality, is not delivered on the ground. Every Member will have experience of being contacted by constituents who are at their wits' end trying to secure a placement with provision that adequately meets their child's needs. That is not a big ask: provision that adequately meets their child's needs.”
“There have been numerous reviews and scrutiny reports undertaken on the issue, including those from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC); the Northern Ireland Audit Committee (NIAO); the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY); and, most recently, the Ipsos independent review of special educational needs. Over 150, and possibly more, recommendations have been made in this space, yet we are still experiencing the problems that were identified many, many years ago. Placements are made on a crisis management basis every year, needs are identified too late and interventions do not come when they are needed.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Take 2. I am now able to say that I am delighted to move the motion. I am sure that we all agree that the need to invest in and transform our special educational needs and disability system in schools must be an immediate priority for the Assembly and the Executive. It is not overstating it to say that our current system is failing children, parents and schools. We need to ensure that reform is implemented as soon as possible so that we can deliver for our most vulnerable learners. <BR /> <BR />The many issues that we see in our SEND system should come as a surprise to no one. Those issues have been ongoing for a significant number of years.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Moved.”
“Minister, is there any plan in the Department to tackle the shortage of educational psychologists and speech and language therapists, who are required to progress those statement applications in a timely fashion?”
“We must reform these institutions, if for no other reason than to provide the stability that the public so desperately need. I will always argue for sustained and radical investment in education for our children and young people, but we also need a plan to deliver not just investment but meaningful transformation that will give us a modern, progressive and better-integrated education system that serves all pupils, regardless of economic background, and delivers equality of opportunity for all.”
“We are all aware of the financial pressures facing education this year and into next year. They have been building year-on-year for some time. As Daniel McCrossan highlighted, that has not been helped by our history of stop-start government in Northern Ireland, which has made the delivery of multi-year Budgets and proper strategic planning in education impossible, representing a failure of our children and young people. <BR /> <BR />I urge that, today, as we consider the Budget Bill, we make clear our commitment not just to delivering sustainable finances for this place but to ending the role of the veto in our politics, giving the public the reassurance that they need that we have a stable Administration as we look to the future.”
“<BR /> <BR />Tackling educational disadvantage must be prioritised, yes, through investment — I will be a strong advocate for proper investment to deliver the recommendations of the 'A Fair Start' report — but we also need to look seriously at the systemic factors that widen attainment gaps between the least well-off pupils and their better-off counterparts, not least the impact of our system of academic selection.”
“It must work to promote new models of school management that deliver sustainable schools, where children from all communities are educated together in the classroom. The Department must take seriously the financial impact of our divided school system and take clear steps to address it systematically. A proper audit of the cost of division in education is long overdue, and if the Education Minister is listening to the debate, I urge him to take that forward.”
“I will highlight a few areas of priority that it will be vital to address if we are going to deliver financial efficiency and sustainability. <BR /> <BR />I highlight SEN services. They must be properly resourced, but they must also be transformed to ensure that there is a clear focus on early identification of need, meaningful early intervention and a commitment to deliver SEN education in line with the very best international practice. <BR /> <BR />Our system of area planning needs to be overhauled to transform it from the cumbersome and, at times, unnecessarily competitive system that we have today and to ensure that it is open, independent, transparent and focused on the needs of local communities.”