AQW 39516/22-27

Mrs Michelle Guy
Alliance Party
Lagan Valley

Tabled Date: 30/01/2026
Answered On Date: 16/02/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any additional resources allocated to the Child Protection Support Service in response to demand, in each of the last five years.

Answer:

The Education Authority’s (EA) Child Protection Support Service (CPSS) is a core EA service, and the decision in respect of resourcing would be a matter for the EA when considering its block grant allocation.

EA has advised that it has not allocated additional core resources to the CPSS during the last five years.

Since 2022/23, however, the department has secured an additional £660k from the Department of Justice’s Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy Fund to support EA CPSS in progressing both the pilot phase and wider rollout of Operation Encompass across education settings.