AQW 38801/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 22/01/2026
Answered On Date: 30/01/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail the scope of the Education Sustainability Taskforce.

Answer:

The Taskforce for Future Financial Stability of Education (the Taskforce) comprises of the Department’s Permanent Secretary, Deputy Secretaries and Finance Director; the Education Authority’s (EA) Chief Executive and Chief Officers; and Department of Finance Education Supply officials.

The overarching objective of the Taskforce is to achieve financial sustainability for the EA and thereby the education sector as a whole, while supporting improvements to services. This will include, though not necessarily be limited, to:

assess the comprehensiveness of the EA’s Category 2 savings measures approved by the EA Board and submitted to DE and determine whether any additional savings proposals should be incorporated into this savings category;

develop a workplan to advance work on these items – including identifying areas where policy review or legislative change is necessary;

review the financial implications of any parallel reform or transformation work taking place in the EA (in particular, the Special Educational Needs Transformation agenda);

subject to Ministerial approval, take forward recommendations outlined in the Independent Review of Baseline Schools Funding Report; and

review in detail all EA budget lines and the services currently offered:

develop an understanding of why the underlying services are needed and method of delivery;

conduct benchmarking exercises to assess EA services with other organisations, sectors or jurisdictions;

identify options for alternative delivery models; and

evaluate these options and make recommendations.

and

ongoing review of existing savings and efficiency measures.