AQO 3724/22-27

Mrs Michelle Guy
Alliance Party
Lagan Valley

Tabled Date: 04/06/2026
Answered On Date: 15/06/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to outline any action he is taking, in conjunction with the Minister of Education, to address child poverty and its impact on educational attainment.

Answer:

As part of development on the Anti-Poverty Strategy, my officials have engaged directly with officials from the Department of Education.

As a result of this collaboration, the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy, as it went out for public Consultation in June 2025, contained a range of proposed interventions contributed by the Department of Education, targeted at raising educational achievement and tackling the attainment gap.

These interventions include delivery of the RAISE programme, a new initiative which aims to raise achievement to reduce educational disadvantage.

These sit alongside a commitment to a range of support for children and young people through the Extended Schools Programme in the form of Breakfast Clubs and healthy eating initiatives, ensuring that children can focus and engage in the classroom.

The Extended Schools Programme also provides after school activities, parental engagement, literacy and numeracy support, etc. This will support children in poverty and at risk of poverty to maximise their educational attainment.

Following the completion of the public consultation, DfC and DE officials have engaged in further collaboration, examining the responses received to the consultation, and working to further hone and strengthen DE’s interventions to ensure maximum positive impact in this area of people’s lives.