Northern Ireland education: Planned cuts to early years programmes scrapped

The programmes include the Pathway Fund, Sure Start, Bright Start and Toybox

Proposed cuts to a number of youth services and early years programmes will now not go ahead, the Department of Education has said.

The programmes include the Pathway Fund, Sure Start, Bright Start and Toybox.

The department also said it would not proceed with all the cuts proposed for the Extended School programme.

Parents had expressed concerns over how reductions to these schemes could affect vulnerable children.

Dr Mark Browne, the Department of Education's permanent secretary, said that given the scale and impact of the cuts he believed they were "a decision that should be taken by a minister, not a permanent secretary".

Northern Ireland's departments are being run by permanent secretaries in the absence of Stormont ministers.

The power-sharing executive has been suspended since May 2022, when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) withdrew from it in protest over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Department of Education is facing significant decisions on how to spend money, after its budget was cut by £66.4m despite rising costs and an increasing demand for services.

The department has already implemented cost-cutting moves including halting the Engage, Healthy Happy Minds and School Holiday Food Grant schemes from the end of March 2023.

'Decision for a minister'

Many of the programmes under threat are designed to help disadvantaged or special educational needs (SEN) pupils.

The Pathway Fund supports 187 early years organisations across Northern Ireland, while Sure Start funds centres which aim to support the wellbeing of children before they start school.

Joy Poots, project co-ordinator of Sure Start in south Belfast, said staff were relieved, with some in tears after the news came through.

"It is like a weight has been lifted off our shoulders," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.

Ms Poots said parents who take part in the programme can now be assured services can continue for the next year, and staff are no longer at risk of losing their roles.

But she warned that multi-year budgets do not provide a sustainable model for programmes like Sure Start.

"We do worry about the future, and we do need to look at how these things are mainstreamed and are not vulnerable every time there is a budgetary crisis," she added.

Meanwhile, the Extended Schools programme enabled almost 500 schools to provide extra services like counselling, breakfasts and after-school clubs.

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In a statement, Dr Browne said evidence indicated that the scale of the cuts "would create greater budgetary pressures for the next financial year and beyond across a range of areas, including special educational needs".

"Furthermore, the reductions would cause significant detriment to the provision of services for our most vulnerable children, young people and families, and run counter to all the department's efforts to tackle educational disadvantage," he added.

The department will shortly publish an Equality Impact Assessment consultation as part of the final budget.

Funding provides 'vital support'

The Education Authority said it welcomed the fact that proposed cuts to youth services and a number of early years programmes would not go ahead.

"These services provide vital support to some of our most vulnerable children, young people and families and make an immeasurable impact on their lives and outcomes," it said.

However, it highlighted that education continues to face "unprecedented budget challenges" with a funding shortfall of about £382m.

"We remain very concerned this will have an enduring and detrimental impact on our schools, critical services and ultimately on our to children and young people, particularly the most vulnerable and those from disadvantaged areas," a statement added.

"There has been a chronic underfunding of education over the last 10 years and we would repeat our call for sustained investment and continued transformation of services."