To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 5593/22-27, for an update on his way forward for Happy Health Minds and School Holiday Food Grant Payments.

Healthy Happy Minds was a pilot which ended in March 2023. The overall outcome of the post project evaluation was positive, however, there is no central funded service for primary school counselling services.

The challenging financial context across the education system means that budgets and investments are severely constrained. As with all services that are not statutory, investment is unfortunately limited to budget availability.

Ringfenced funding for School Holiday Food Grant payments ceased in 2023 and the payments were therefore discontinued.

Food poverty is an issue for many low-income families that that affects all age groups across every day of the year. While tackling “holiday hunger” is an important aspect of this, I believe it is for the Executive to seek to address food poverty across all our society through a wider and more holistic approach within the context of the Executive’s Anti-Poverty Strategy.