To ask the Minister of Education pursuant to AQW 52049/22-27, to detail any evidence base, including any stakeholder engagement undertaken by his Department or CCEA with (i) bereavement charities; (ii) school leaders; (iii) teachers; (iv) school counselling services; (v) parents; and (vi) children and young people with lived experience of bereavement, which informed the decision not to include a discrete age-appropriate module on grief and bereavement within the proposed curriculum.
To ask the Minister for Communities pursuant to AQW 53109/22-27, to detail any changes that have been made to Arts Council NI (i) funding criteria; (ii) outreach priorities; and (iii) funding allocations, as a result of the participation inequalities identified in the Audit of Inequalities 2026.
To ask the Minister for Communities pursuant to AQW 53109/22-27, to detail any Arts Council NI funding programmes that have been (i) screened; (ii) monitored: and (iii) evaluated, against the participation inequalities identified in his Department’s Audit of Inequalities 2026, including the date of each assessment.
To ask the Minister for Communities pursuant to AQW 53109/22-27, to detail the expected completion and publication date for the Arts Council NI Social Class survey of Artists in Northern Ireland.
To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to AQW 53110/22-27, to detail (i) the number of Universal Credit households in payment in May 2026, broken down by (a) single adults without children; (b) couples without children; (c) lone-parent households; and (d) couple households with children; and (ii) the proportion within each household type that had earnings from employment or self-employment.
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any assessment his Department has made of the value for money delivered by Advice NI’s Debt Advice Service, in light of the report From Delay to Action: Research on Debt Advice, Shame and Effective Messaging, finding that the service delivered £5.83 of social value for every £1 invested and created almost £9 million in social value in 2024-25.
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any consideration his Department has given to the findings of Advice NI’s report From Delay to Action: Research on Debt Advice, Shame and Effective Messaging, including whether findings relating to delayed help-seeking, shame and stigma, and the importance of early access to debt advice will be incorporated into the Anti-Poverty Strategy action plan.
To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 52193/22-27, to detail any funding allocated to the Together for Families model in 2026/27, broken down by (i) programme element; and (ii) Health and Social Care Trust.
To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 52193/22-27, to detail the implementation timetable for each remaining element of the Together for Families model, including (i) the Enhanced Family Support Service; (ii) strengthened Family Support Hubs; (iii) the Intensive Family Support Service; and (iv) the Family Support Open List.
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any escalation or fast-track arrangements available for (i) Disability Living Allowance claims for children under 16 with cancer; (ii) Personal Independence Payment claims by young people aged 16 to 24 with cancer, including (a) any criteria for escalation; (b) any referral routes; (c) whether third sector cancer social workers may refer cases; and (e) the number of such cases escalated in each of the last three years.
To ask the Minister for Communities whether the forthcoming Anti-Poverty Strategy action plan will include measures to reduce delays in access to disability benefits for children and young people with cancer, including (i) consideration of the three-month qualifying period; (ii) the use of oncology medical evidence and; (iii) automatic or expedited processing following a confirmed cancer diagnosis.
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail the average processing time for (i) Disability Living Allowance claims for children under 16 with cancer; and (ii) Personal Independence Payment claims for young people aged 16 to 24 with cancer, in each of the last three years.
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail any contingency plans that are in place to ensure uninterrupted ferry services to Rathlin Island, following the decision by the current operator not to extend its contract beyond 10 January 2027.
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail any recommendations from the Rathlin Citizens Panel that have been incorporated into her Department's planning for future ferry services to Rathlin Island.
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail (i) when the procurement process for a new Rathlin Island ferry service operator is expected to commence; and (ii) any timetable that has been set for the appointment of a successor operator, before January 2027.
To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to AQW 51323/22-27, to detail the number of Universal Credit households with earnings from employment or self-employment, where at least one claimant has limited capability for work or limited capability for work and work-related activity.
Tabled
25 Sep 2026
Answered
5 Oct 2026 (10 days)
Department
Department for Communities
Read the answer to AQW 53111/22-27
Pursuant to AQW 51323/22-27, in May 2026, 68,400 (30%) of the 226,800 households receiving Universal Credit had earnings from employment or self-employment.
Of these 68,400 households, there were 12,770 households where at least one claimant has limited capability for work or limited capability for work and work-related activity.
To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to AQW 51323/22-27, to detail the (i) number; and (ii) proportion of Universal Credit households with earnings from employment or self-employment, broken down by household type, including (a) single adults without children; (b) couples without children; (c) lone parent households; and (d) couple households with children.
Tabled
25 Sep 2026
Answered
5 Oct 2026 (10 days)
Department
Department for Communities
Read the answer to AQW 53110/22-27
Pursuant to AQW 51323/22-27, in May 2026, 68,400 (30%) of the 226,800 households receiving Universal Credit had earnings from employment or self-employment.
The number and proportion of these households by household type are as follows:
Household Type
Households in Payment with Earnings
Proportion of Households in Payment with Earnings
Couple
2,930
4%
Couple with child(ren)
15,230
22%
Single
11,650
17%
Single with child(ren)
38,590
56%
Total
68,400
100%
Source: Universal Credit Full service (UCFS) system at May 2026. These figures are subject to change due to retrospective updates to UCFS data. Figures are rounded to the nearest ten and percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to his Department's Audit of Inequalities 2026, whether the Arts Council NI's funding programmes are assessed against the participation inequalities, identified in the report.
Tabled
25 Sep 2026
Answered
5 Oct 2026 (10 days)
Department
Department for Communities
Read the answer to AQW 53109/22-27
This issue is an operational matter for the Arts Council, they have advised me as follows:
‘The Arts Council evaluates its programmes against the factors identified in the Departments Audit of Inequalities 2026. All new programmes are fully screened, monitored and evaluated.
The Arts Council conducts outreach programmes to engage communities who would not normally engage or avail of arts provision. We work with partners to deliver outreach programmes and schemes to include Minority Ethnic Artist, Rural Arts Engagement, Arts & Older People, Community Engagement, Arts & Young People, Arts and Health programme engagement, Disability Arts engagement. There is an ongoing focus on Arts and Men’s Mental Health Arts engagement.
The Arts Council conducts external surveys and collaborates with external partners to gain additional data insights within programmes and collaborates with external partners to acquire enhanced section 75 data information. We also conduct internal staff surveys to identify inequalities and are currently undertaking a Social Class survey of Artists in Northern Ireland.’
To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to his Department's Audit of Inequalities 2026, to detail any action he is taking to address the report’s finding that one in every four debt advice clients was a single parent, representing a potential inequality for women, who are more likely to be single parents.
Tabled
25 Sep 2026
Answered
7 Oct 2026 (12 days)
Department
Department for Communities
Read the answer to AQW 53108/22-27
My Department funds the Northern Ireland Debt Advice Service, which provides free, independent and regulated debt advice across Northern Ireland. This service enables people to access high-quality support when they are experiencing financial difficulty or are concerned about falling into debt.
A key focus of my Department’s approach is early intervention, helping people access advice as soon as financial difficulties arise to prevent problems from escalating. This is particularly important for households facing financial pressures, including single-parent households.
Through the Integrated Advice Partnership Fund, for which £2.2 million has been made available between November 2024 and March 2027, my Department is working with all 11 councils to deliver debt advice in community settings, including GP surgeries, social supermarkets and food banks. This approach makes support more accessible at an earlier stage, helping to improve financial resilience and wellbeing and prevent financial difficulties from escalating.
I recognise that single-parent households, many of which are headed by women, can face particular financial pressures and ensuring access to timely debt advice remains an important element of my Department's support.
To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to his Department's Audit of Inequalities 2026, to detail any action he is taking to address the report’s finding that participation in the arts is lower among men, Catholics, people living in the most deprived areas, people with dependants, older people and people with disabilities.
Tabled
25 Sep 2026
Answered
2 Oct 2026 (7 days)
Department
Department for Communities
Read the answer to AQW 53107/22-27
The new Arts Policy under development in the Heritage, Culture and Creativity Programme will seek to improve access and increase participation, particularly among people and communities who may feel the arts are not for them.
Support for grassroots and community-based arts organisations will play a vital role in engaging underrepresented groups and ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, location or personal circumstance, has opportunity to participate in and benefit from the arts.
