To ask the Minister of Education whether his Department will take a cross-departmental approach to addressing educational disadvantage.

The ‘A Fair Start’ Report and Action Plan, which seeks to address educational disadvantage, was endorsed by the Northern Ireland Executive in May 2021. A number of actions contained in it are cross-departmental and the delivery of the Action Plan is overseen by a cross-departmental board.

The extent of the implementation of the recommendations will of course be dependent on funding, which is currently significantly lower than recommended by the Expert Panel on Educational Underachievement.

Ensuring a cross-departmental approach is also aligned to key legislation and policy/strategy relevant to all Departments:

The Children’s Service Cooperation Act 2015 places obligations on all ‘children’s authorities’ to cooperate with each other in order to contribute to the improvement of outcomes for children and young people. All government departments in Northern Ireland are children’s authorities.

The Executive Children and Young People’s Strategy provides a strategic framework to encourage and support cooperation across departments to improve outcomes for children and young people.

My department has established the cross-departmental Monitoring and Reporting Board to support implementation of the Children and Young People’s Strategy. The Board draws together senior officials from across departments.

The role of the Board is to provide strategic direction, with a strong emphasis on collaboration and co-ordination, on policy matters affecting children and young people, particularly where there are significant challenges.