AQW 35915/11-15

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 12/09/2014
Answered On Date: 07/10/2014
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister, of the £26m allocated to six Signature Programmes under the Delivering Social Change framework, what proportion of funding has been allocated to delivering benefits for people with disabilities.

Answer:

The Delivering Social Change framework was set up by the Northern Ireland Executive to tackle poverty and social exclusion. It represents a new level of joined-up working by Ministers and senior officials across departments to drive through initiatives which have a genuine impact on the ground.

The framework aims to deliver a sustained reduction in poverty and associated issues across all ages and to improve children and young people’s health, well-being and life opportunities thereby breaking the long term cycle of multi-generational problems.

In line with the identified key priorities we announced, in October 2012, a £26m package of six Delivering Social Change Signature Programmes which focus on early interventions.

The Signature Programmes were set up to improve literacy and numeracy levels, offer increased family support and to support job creation within local communities – all of which were identified as being key priorities.

Whilst each of the six signature programmes has the capacity to positively impact on people with disabilities, we are unable to specify the proportion of funding within each that directly supports this group.