AQW 34327/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 24/10/2025
Answered On Date: 03/11/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 33047/22-27, to detail (i) the amount of funding secured to progress early actions; and (ii) a breakdown of how the funding secured has been allocated to specific actions, in the SEN Reform Agenda and Delivery Plan.

Answer:

Additional investment of £31.5m has been secured to progress the early actions within the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Reform Delivery Plan. This includes £27.5m from the Public Sector Transformation Board (PTSB) and £4m from the Early Learning & Childcare (ELC) budget.

Detailed costings for specific actions funded from the PTSB are not planned for publication as they are indicative and subject to change as projects progress, with some dependent on final proposals from delivery partners. Nonetheless, full transparency and accountability regarding expenditure will be maintained.

The £4m secured to date from the ELC budget has been allocated to the Pre-school Education Inclusion Support Fund (PEISF) which delivers on the following action within the SEN Reform Delivery Plan: Resource pre-school education settings to support children undergoing statutory assessment.