To ask the Minister of Education when decisions will be made on outstanding development proposals for schools in East Antrim moving to controlled integrated status.

Mr Weir

Development proposals (DPs) for transformation to controlled integrated status for two mid- and east Antrim schools were published on 26 March. They were DP 645 Carrickfergus Central Primary, where the proposal was to transform to controlled integrated status with effect from 1 September 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter, and DP 648, which is Seaview Primary School, to transform to controlled integrated status, again with effect from 1 September 2021 or soon after. Area planning activity was paused, due to COVID, on 3 April 2020, with the exception of special education provision in mainstream and special school settings, so that all resources, including staff, could be redeployed in the Department’s emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, the progression of DPs has been delayed. However, we are now in a position where this can restart, and an extraordinary meeting of the area planning steering group was held on 21 October and a decision taken formally to resume all area planning operations and structures from that date. The Department has extended the statutory objection period — objection can be letters both of support and of opposition — for affected DPs to provide a full two-month consultation outside the suspension period. The revised closing dates for the transformation proposals was 9 November 2020. Work on the assessment of the proposals has recommenced, and decisions on the DPs will be made as soon as possible.

Mr Weir

The Member will forgive me, but I do not know how much he is aware, directly, of the process. Development proposals, while they will be initiated by different bodies and brought forward, ultimately will come down a legal decision that has to be made by the Department and, where there is a Minister, by the Minister directly. Therefore, I am duty-bound, ahead of any decision on a development proposal, to make no comment at all on the merits of that case, either for or against that proposal. While all factors will be borne in mind with regard to the situation in Seaview and Carrick, I will have to judge all those factors when they come to me. I cannot comment on, for instance, the distance between existing schools at present. Obviously, all factors will be taken into account before there is a decision.

Mr Allister

Will the Minister advise the House, in making decisions about these matters, how far are the wider community ramifications considered? Let us take Seaview, for example. The impact on the like of Carnalbanagh Primary School, which the Minister kindly visited, could be serious, in that a school that is struggling to regenerate itself and to get back going could have the rug pulled from under it by the further advancement of an alternative offering nearby.

Mr Weir

We look at the impact on surrounding schools. It is not simply about the sustainability of the schools. The key focus is on the direct education of the young people. If a school was transforming, for example, or if there was a merger or closure, it is about what the implications will be for the local children. Any school will look at the wider implications for nearby schools. As part of the process, a grid of nearby schools is highlighted. Within that is the distance from the school, and it is broken down by sector and the number of children there. All factors are taken into account, but the overriding considerations are the broader educational implications for those children and what is sustainable. It is rare that any development proposal will be entirely uncontroversial in its nature, apart from, perhaps, a minor indication regarding school numbers. Any decision on a school will have a ripple effect across the board.

Mr Principal Deputy Speaker

Question 4 in the name of Mr McGuigan, question 7 in the name of Mr Chambers and question 8 in the name of Mrs Cameron have been grouped.