AQO 843/10

Mrs Naomi Long
Alliance Party
East Belfast

Tabled Date: 18/02/2010
Answered On Date: 02/03/2010
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister for an update on the development of the Cohesion, Sharing and Integration strategy.

Answer:

Improving relationships between and within communities here and building a shared and better future continues to be a high priority for this Department and the Executive. As we stated on 23rd February we have agreed the Programme for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration. Over the coming weeks we will ask government departments for their input into the programme. The strategy will then be presented to the OFMDFM Committee before being submitted to the Executive. The strategy will then be subject to a full public consultation.

Whilst we have been working intensively towards this agreed strategy that will benefit all our people now and over the longer term; work to promote community relations and good race relations has continued over the past two years, led and supported by us and the whole Ministerial team.

We have increased funding by a third for the period 2008-2011, from £21 million in the previous CSR period to almost £30 million in the current one. That means that vital work on the ground and with both existing and new communities is better resourced than ever.

We have increased funding to minority ethnic groups by two-thirds and increased funding for youth and interface workers by one-quarter. Statistics from both the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey and the Good Relations Indicators report show that the work that we fund and resource, is delivering real and meaningful outcomes. Since 2005/06 there has been a 31% reduction in sectarian motivated crimes and almost 70% of young people in 2008 reported that relationships between Protestants and Catholics were getting better.

There are many other examples of our commitment:

Junior Minister Gerry Kelly and Junior Minister Robin Newton continue to chair the north Belfast Working Group focusing on interface issues in Belfast and across Northern Ireland.

Last summer we spent £500,000 on resourcing summer interventions work, bringing our total investment on this type of work to 1.5m since devolution in 2007.

In our District Councils’ Community Relations Programme we have spent since May 2007 £4.372m with a budget of £2.759m for the current financial year.

In Coleraine we have been working proactively with our key partners both statutory and non-statutory following the death of Mr Kevin McDaid in May and we have provided an additional £23,000 to Coleraine Borough Council for diversionary work on top of the £86,000 awarded to the Council for good relations activities.

We have also chaired meetings relating to issues in Craigavon and Lurgan.

These examples show that we are not complacent – we are leading and driving change in our society and in our work – through the Department and the Executive to deliver a shared and better future for all our people.