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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“I ask the Finance Minister, as we look to future Budgets and future resource that will be available to the Department of Education, to provide urgent clarity as to the position around Fresh Start funding, specifically in relation to the financial package from the UK Government, and to clarify what assurances she can offer schools that their projects will not be jeopardised. <BR /> <BR />We should not just seek to ensure that education is appropriately funded. We should, of course, do so, but there is an urgent need for the reform and transformation of education on multiple fronts. Investment without reform will not deliver either financial sustainability or the excellent system that our children deserve.”
“While any moneys coming to education for capital projects via the UK Government's financial package will be welcomed, and I will be the first to welcome them, concerns have been raised that the UK Government will seek to reheat previous funding streams such as funds from 'A Fresh Start'. They were previously earmarked for shared and integrated projects. Many schools across Northern Ireland are relying on that pot of funding for their new buildings and extensions. Any loss of access to that funding would be an entirely retrograde step in my view.”
“<BR /> <BR />In addition to my comments on teacher pay when I spoke as Chair of the Committee, it is vital that the Finance Minister makes an urgent decision on the pay and grading review for non-teaching staff. I have already submitted a question to the Minister in that regard, and we do not have a clear timescale as to when that will be delivered. I will welcome any detail that she can provide today on that issue, because if we fail to address the huge issues around pay and terms and conditions for our non-teaching support staff, it is very difficult to see how we can avoid further hugely disruptive industrial action, which has only the outcome of impacting on our children and young people and, in particular, our children who attend special schools. <BR /> <BR />I will make a further comment on capital investment in education.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. I will come to those exact points as I continue my remarks. There is no doubt that the continual cycle of the collapse of the institutions does nothing to deliver for our children and young people. It is beholden to everyone in this place to commit to removing the veto from politics in Northern Ireland on that basis. <BR /> <BR />I turn back to my remarks in relation to a funding settlement that reflects our objective need. Alliance has been very clear in all our contributions on the issue that that needs-based adjustment needs to be more in the region of 127%, which my colleague Eóin Tennyson referenced, to better reflect that need. I assure Members that we will continue to make that case, not least so that the investment required in our schools can be made in the future.”
“Failure to fund education in line with need punishes only our children and young people, and it is a failure to invest in our future growth and prosperity.”
“Education needs a budget that reflects the need for strategic capital investment, not least in the area of special educational needs (SEN) but also to address the maintenance backlog in our schools. Future Budgets need to address the widening disparity in per pupil spend in Northern Ireland. By the calculation of the independent review of education, the annual gap is in the region of £155 million compared with per pupil spend in England, so the challenge is by no means a small one. <BR /> <BR />Given the substantial financial pressures experienced in education in this financial year, it is vital that the Executive receive from the UK Government a funding settlement that properly reflects our objective need.”
“I support the Bill, and I will refer specifically to the budgetary context for education and the Alliance Party's priorities in that regard as we look forward. <BR /> <BR />Education in Northern Ireland is in a state of crisis. That crisis is largely a crisis of funding. Education, which in any functioning society should receive strategic and prioritised investment, is in Northern Ireland chronically underfunded. Across the board, that seems to be something on which the parties in the Chamber can agree. The 2023-24 Budget, pay pressures aside, had an estimated £300 million funding gap for education, and that has had a profound impact in the past year on school budgets and on capital investment in the school estate and infrastructure. <BR /> <BR />It is therefore vital that, in the coming financial year, we address the funding gap.”
“That is a regrettable situation, but I welcome the Minister's confirmation that there is no intention to treat that as a precedent. <BR /> <BR />The Deputy Chair and other members of the Committee will perhaps give their perspective over the course of the debates, but I emphasise that the Committee wants to begin its work with a constructive start. We will be questioning officials in the weeks ahead on some of the shortcomings of the accelerated passage process, but, as Chair of the Committee, I welcome the Bill as a necessary first step in the work of this Administration. <BR /> <BR />I will now make some remarks as an Alliance Party MLA and, specifically, as our party's education spokesperson.”
“<BR /> <BR />I understand that Statutory Committees would normally expect significant consultation to allow them to exercise their function of Budget scrutiny, but, with the return of devolution at rapid speed, which was far from ideal, and with every stage of the Budget Bill being scheduled to pass within two days, it has been impossible to carry out that work. It is improbable, as many Members have highlighted, that the Bill will receive the appropriate or ideal scrutiny that it should be afforded. The Bill has arrived with a lack of background discussion and information. It will cover Departments until the end of the financial year and bring forward the Vote on Account, but that is all in the context of no consultation or engagement with Committees.”
“The Committee has not been briefed in detail on any of that work, but I make it clear that it was very clear in its first meeting that it wants to prioritise delivering fair pay settlements for our education workforce. We have committed to that by ensuring at our first meeting that the teaching unions will attend and that, shortly after, the non-teaching unions will brief the Committee. It is absolutely vital that we appropriately remunerate our teaching workforce and find a path out of the ongoing industrial action in our schools.”
“<BR /> <BR />I note from the Finance Committee's meeting today that, without accelerated passage of the Bill, the risk that the Department of Education would run out of money had been identified. On behalf of the Committee, I ask the Minister, as Phillip Brett did earlier, to provide a bit of clarity on exactly what the potential impact on education spending would have been had the Bill not come forward today. <BR /> <BR />The Finance Minister has advised that the allocations will address forecast overspend in the Department of Education, that all ring-fenced resource DEL will be met and that that resource DEL will go towards settling pay deals.”
“I emphasise that, when we consider the education budget, we must keep at the forefront of our mind that investment in education is an investment in children and young people, while a failure to invest lets down the very people whom the education system is set up to serve. <BR /> <BR />We were not presented with a first-day brief or a Budget briefing at the first meeting of our Committee, but we look forward to having a series of meetings in which we will be able to address departmental priorities, beginning this Wednesday with our first briefing from the permanent secretary and his officials. I look forward to working with the Committee in the weeks ahead on scrutinising the budgetary position in detail.”
“I rise to contribute in my capacity as the Chairperson of the Committee for Education, before making remarks as the Alliance Party's education spokesperson. <BR /> <BR />The Deputy Chair of the Committee and I have been in post for just a fortnight, and the Committee's membership was confirmed just a week ago, so the Committee has not had much opportunity to form a detailed view on the Bill. It was able to set out some of its key priorities at its first meeting, however, and they are relevant to the debate. That first meeting took place last Wednesday, and it was great to welcome members to it. All of them expressed a clear and deep commitment to improving outcomes for our children and young people.”
“Without the required workforce strategy and investment, simply creating demand without addressing supply will not deliver. In Northern Ireland, we need provision that is inclusive and accessible to all children. Alliance has been raising the need to address childcare provision for many years, and I pay tribute to former Member Chris Lyttle, who has been doing so since as far back as 2010. He really blazed a trail in that regard. Regrettably, Ministers directly responsible for delivering on a strategy have failed to do so, so now must be the time to deliver. Parents and children in Northern Ireland expect and deserve nothing less from the Assembly.”
“I have learned so much from the network about the important role that childcare settings, particularly those at the heart of some of our most disadvantaged communities, will play in the lives not just of the children in their care but of their wider families. We must ensure that such settings are supported in any childcare strategy that is brought forward and that the development of our early learning and childcare strategy is viewed through a clear anti-poverty lens. <BR /> <BR />Although we lag far behind our counterparts across the UK, Ireland and Europe on the issue, we have a chance to get childcare provision right. We know that the 30 free hours model is not working, and I urge the Minister to look at options as widely as he can across the board.”
“<BR /> <BR />Our future childcare strategy must be based on an understanding of the factors that are specific to children with additional needs, including the need to ensure that settings are qualified and confident to meet those children's needs effectively. It is also vital to acknowledge that childcare has a key role in tackling poverty. We must invest in settings that wrap support around families to safeguard children and address the needs of the most vulnerable families in society. I pay tribute to the work of the Community Daycare Network and thank it for its extensive engagement with the all-party group and with my party.”
“By ensuring that we have a child-centred, affordable and high-quality early years and childcare system, we can positively shape the future life chances of children and young people. <BR /> <BR />I am pleased that the motion makes clear reference to special educational needs and ensuring that support for children with additional needs is well provided for in any childcare strategy. We know that parents and guardians of children with additional needs are much less likely to use childcare and that they report significant and substantial struggles in accessing childcare that is appropriate for their children's needs. The recent RSM report detailed that 46% of parents of children with complex needs faced clear challenges in getting access to those places.”
“Northern Ireland needs a bespoke scheme that invests in the childcare sector, making it sustainable, and requires that, in return for that investment, costs come down. <BR /> <BR />I want to be clear in my contribution. The issue of cost will be covered in some detail, which is quite right, but I want to be clear that, for me and my party, childcare is very much part of a wider early education system. Quality, affordable childcare can have a significant positive impact on our children; it goes far beyond the issue of improving access to work for parents, important as that is. Members will be aware of the importance of the first 1,000 days of a child's life. So many of the factors that influence a child's health, development, well-being and life chances are best impacted through policy intervention at that stage.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am aware, as the new Chair of the Education Committee, that the issue of childcare will be high on the Committee's agenda, but, as the Committee is yet to meet, I think that I should limit my comments as Chair to say no more than that I hope and trust that all the members of that Committee will work together to support the delivery of the much-needed childcare strategy. <BR /> <BR />I speak in support of the motion and the amendment. The amendment adds some considerations about the need for wider consultation, and I am happy to support that. <BR /> <BR />Childcare is, indeed, in a state of crisis. That has been set out clearly by every Member who has spoken. Tackling the affordability element of that is vital.”
“It is an honour and a privilege to give my maiden speech today as one of the two Alliance Members for Strangford. I want to say, from the outset, that I am committed to representing everyone in the constituency where I grew up and where I am bringing up my family; it truly is a great privilege. I also want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor in that seat, Lord Weir. Lord Weir served the constituencies of North Down and Strangford with distinction from 1998, as well as holding the office of Education Minister on two separate occasions.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement and welcome the fact that he has come to the Chamber so quickly and so early with his plans. I look forward to working with him to ensure that we deliver on the huge capital challenges and the challenges across the board in education. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the particular reference to SEN and the need for investment in our SEN transformation programme and SEN places. Will the Minister provide more detail on how he will ensure that any additional capital allocation received for SEN is delivered to ensure that the required places in both mainstream and special settings are in place for September 2024 for our SEN children?”
“I sincerely hope that we can do the right thing today. I do not believe that we will. I think that one party will continue to stand in the way of progress. We urgently need to restore faith in the institutions and in the democratic process in this place.”
“In my view, it is the people of Northern Ireland who are being treated with contempt. We know that an Executive being reformed is not a magic wand — it will not make our problems go away — but I, for one, got elected to try to do something, not to stand on the sidelines wringing my hands and protesting over an issue about which we can do nothing in this place.”
“<BR /> <BR />All this deadlock, this abject failure to provide stable government at a time of crisis is precipitated by one party's protest over the protocol, about which this place can do nothing. We could keep the Assembly in suspension indefinitely and not one line of the protocol would be altered. We all know, if we are being honest, that the only outcome that will resolve any of the issues with the protocol will arise from negotiations between the UK Government and the EU. We need to get on with our jobs. We are not here to renegotiate international treaties. We are here to govern the people of Northern Ireland and to provide leadership, and we need to get on with that job. <BR /> <BR />There is anger and frustration in the Chamber today, and quite rightly. We heard the DUP Members refer to their party being treated with contempt.”
“Yes, I absolutely agree. Anybody who heard the contributions from the parent this morning could not fail to be aware of the crisis that is affecting paediatric waiting lists. That is another issue to be added to the list of pressures facing this place. <BR /> <BR />Essentially, we have Departments with no budget spending with risk in order to keep public services functioning and a cost-of-living crisis receiving essentially no local response from this place. We are left entirely at the mercy of a dysfunctional Tory Government, who seem to think that offering our people here a paltry £100 towards their oil bills is a sufficient intervention to help them, while the DUP says, "We just need Westminster. That is all that is required to deal with the crisis".”
“<BR /> <BR />Our health service is in crisis, our waiting lists are spiralling and strategies to help to deliver change on issues such as cancer services and mental health are unfunded and gathering dust without an Executive. We have hospital emergency departments unable to meet demand in the summer let alone with the winter approaching. There is no Executive pay policy set, leaving key workers in limbo over wage increases as inflation rises.”
“I will not give way, as no other Members seem to have shown that courtesy to my party in our contributions. <BR /> <BR />We are going to be looking at unelected civil servants providing the only leadership in Northern Ireland in the coming weeks, and all that while we face a cost-of-living emergency and huge pressures on our public finances. Those challenges and pressures have been set out again and again since May. We have all received the emails from the doctors and nurses and from our business community. We have all met our constituents, sadly, in our food banks and community centres, hearing about just how much pressure our communities are under at the moment. However, it seems that, for one party in this place, those messages are simply not getting through.”
“<BR /> <BR />We all sat in the Chamber back in May, most of us ready to get to work on behalf of our constituents, but we then observed the spectacle of DUP Members refusing to elect a Speaker and preventing any business taking place in the Assembly. That refusal has left Northern Ireland utterly rudderless, without a Budget, without the scrutiny of Ministers or their Departments, with unspent funds held in limbo and without any democratic accountability in Northern Ireland. Now, even the caretaker Ministers will be vacating their posts and leaving Northern Ireland under the direction of a Tory Government who are in utter chaos, and we will be under the direction —.”
“I rise to confirm my support for the nomination of a Speaker today. In the context that we find ourselves in, I would support either, or indeed any, nomination for a Speaker that would bring us closer to seeing an Executive formed and enable us to get on with the jobs that we were elected to do. <BR /> <BR />As a newly elected MLA, this is very far from the position that I wanted to be in — making my first contribution in this place in what is nothing more than a last chance saloon, staring at the potential collapse of the institutions. They have been held to ransom by one party since May's election, but here we are.”