AQW 5302/22-27

Mr Eóin Tennyson
Alliance Party
Upper Bann

Tabled Date: 26/10/2022
Answered On Date: 12/02/2024
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education (i) how many children are on the waiting list to receive support from the Education Authority Literacy Support Service; (ii) what additional funding is being provided to the Literacy Support Service; and (iii) what additional support can parents access for children who are waiting, or unable, to access the Literacy Support Service.

Answer:

The Education Authority (EA) has advised that at 5 February 2024, 1,112 pupils are on a waiting list to receive support from the Literacy Service.

Funding to support the Literacy Service is allocated through the EA block grant allocation. Total expenditure for the Literacy Service during 2022/23 has been advised as c£7.5m. There is no additional funding available to the Literacy Service at this time, pending the conclusion of the End-to-End (E2E) Review of Special Educational Needs (SEN) – Pupil Support Workstream.

The Literacy Service provides a range of resources to include information, suggested activities and training videos to help parents and schools to support literacy difficulties: https://send.eani.org.uk/support-services/literacy. The supports and resources available from all EA SEND services are set out on the EA SEND Plan of Arrangements. Further details can be found: https://send.eani.org.uk/ea-plan-arrangements