AQW 8066/22-27

Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 04/03/2024
Answered On Date: 08/03/2024
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether he will reinstate funding for specialist counselling services for victims of sexual abuse.

Answer:

On 4 March 2024 in my statement to the Assembly, I advised that funding for specialist counselling services for victims of sexual abuse would not be withdrawn.

I provided reassurance regarding my ongoing commitment to the importance of the provision of specialist counselling services for victims of sexual abuse.

I acknowledged that the current contract with Nexus was due to end automatically on 31 March 2024 and that there had been ongoing under performance issues.

However, in order to avoid a gap in provision in services for new people coming forward, I approved a further extension of 12 months to this contract to allow further discussions to occur to map out future sustainable arrangements.