AQW 17431/22-27

Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 25/10/2024
Answered On Date: 20/12/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the budget allocation to their Department to promote and encourage civic engagement with the draft Programme for Government consultation.

Answer:

In the eight weeks of public consultation, over 70 events were held and 1,375 responses received.

17 events were held for members of the public, 10 of which were online.

A total of 194 people attended in-person events in Belfast, Lisburn, Ballymena, Newry, Derry/Londonderry, Enniskillen and Cookstown. A total of 205 people attended the 10 online events.

A budget of £27,500 was allocated to this work of which £17,500 was spent on all aspects of the consultation including venue hire, facilitation, and advertising, with £5,300 of this money being spent on civic engagement in the form of venue hire and facilitation.

Despite us holding more events and driving a greater number of responses, this has been delivered at a lower cost, in real terms, to previous Programme for Government consultations, and we would like to thank all organisations who supported this work.