AQW 32547/22-27

Ms Sian Mulholland
Alliance Party
North Antrim

Tabled Date: 01/10/2025
Answered On Date: 13/10/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to outline how rurality is factored into funding allocations for youth services.

Answer:

My department’s policy for youth work in education, Priorities for Youth, sets out the requirement for the Education Authority (EA) to undertake an assessment of need to inform its Regional Youth Development Plan. Funding allocations are made based on this plan and the EA’s funding formula.

The EA’s current funding formula allocates resources on the following basis:

Deprivation – 55%

Total Population – 10%

Target Age Range Population – 15%

Rurality – 20%