To ask the Minister of Education to detail any plans in place to secure the long-term future of Sandelford School, Coleraine.

The school enhancement project at Sandelford continues to progress. The original business case was approved by my Department in January 2024. However, following my removal of the funding threshold for school enhancement projects in April 2024, the scope of this project has now been expanded.

The initial scheme would have delivered two general classrooms, four specialist classrooms, and the removal of outdated mobile accommodation. The expanded project will now provide an additional four classrooms, ancillary accommodation, and enhanced school meal facilities. The project is currently expected to complete by September 2028, at which point the site will be at capacity.

The long-term plan for the school is therefore the expansion of the school on a new site to provide places for up to 150 pupils. Work is underway to identify available and suitable sites. However, I must emphasise that both the current project and the longterm development plan are entirely dependent on the availability of capital funding.

On 9 September 2025, I circulated a draft Executive Paper to other Ministers outlining that my department’s existing capital budget cannot absorb the £1.7 billion required over the next decade to deliver more than 6,000 new special school places and over 500 specialist provisions in mainstream settings. That paper set out proposals for a flagship, Executive-led and Executive-funded Special Educational Needs (SEN) capital investment programme.

I am deeply disappointed that we have not yet had the opportunity for a meaningful Executive discussion on these proposals and I am even more concerned that the draft budget fails to ring-fence any funding for SEN capital investment, despite the scale and urgency of the need.

I will continue to emphasise the need for cross-party support for my proposals to ensure that the long-term plans for Sandelford, and all special schools can be delivered.