AQO 664/16-21

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 27/10/2016
Answered On Date: 15/11/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education how his Department and the Education Authority will ensure all of the £50 million capital investment from the Fresh Start Agreement will be used.

Answer:

My Department is working closely with the Education Authority to progress the Fresh Start Agreement (FSA) programme of new capital builds for schools.

It will not be possible to spend £50 p.a. in the early years of the programme given that no initial work had commenced on the vast majority of the projects when they were announced. These projects are in the early stages of planning with procurement currently ongoing to appoint integrated consultant teams.

I have already raised the issue of carry-over of unspent funding in the first 3 years of the scheme with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

The Department will continue to engage with the Northern Ireland Office regarding future tranches of projects to ensure that allocation of FSA funding has a maximum impact on shared and integrated education here.

In addition I announced a call for new proposals for Shared Education Campus projects in September.

I have also raised with the Secretary of State the possibility of directing FSA funds to assisting Integrated schools under a future School Enhancement Programme call for capital projects.