6.

asked the Minister for Social Development what steps is he taking to provide elderly Housing Executive tenants with appropriate safety measures at their homes.

(AQO 484/01)

The Housing Executive operates a range of measures designed to make elderly tenants' homes safer. Many of those measures also apply to non-elderly tenants. They fall into three broad categories. The first category covers work done inside tenants' homes - for example, the fitting of additional handrails, grab handles for tenants with disabilities, or smoke alarms to make homes safer in general. The second category covers works done outside tenants' homes, including marking steps clearly and providing additional external lighting and handrails. The third scheme is designed to improve tenants' sense of security in their homes through preventative measures such as designing areas for safe living and the use of neighbourhood wardens.

On Saturday night, an elderly person was assaulted in her home in my constituency, the fifth such incident. The Minister should consider the provision of locks for people's homes. Will he consider a scheme to provide a monitor or some sort of small CCTV camera on the front door of elderly people's homes so that they do not have to answer the door in the first place? That would reduce the chances of someone forcing entry.

The Department should develop an inter-agency approach to the care and protection of elderly people, along with the trusts, the police and charitable organisations?

I share the Member's concern about attacks on elderly residents. It is deplorable that so many of our most vulnerable citizens suffer attacks in their own home. For many, such attacks have an extremely traumatic effect. The attacks are despicable, and I am sure that all Members will join the Member and me in deploring them. Unfortunately, the incidence of such behaviour seems to be increasing and spreading across all areas. I take on board the points that the Member has made and would be happy to discuss them with her in detail.

In June, the Housing Executive approved a three-year strategic plan, which will help to develop initiatives to deal with community safety. That commits the Housing Executive to working with other agencies and landlords, including the Community Relations Council, the Northern Ireland Office, the Community Safety Centre, Groundwork Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust and my Department's urban regeneration and community development group.

The Housing Executive has implemented the anti- social behaviour unit, neighbourhood wardens, the 10 estates crime reduction initiative, inter-agency training, the greencare programme and the mediation development group. It will carry forward its three-year plan, which it will monitor and evaluate. I take on board the Member's points, because they are matters of vital concern.

7.

asked the Minister for Social Development what specific action his Department has taken in the past two years to deal with the problem of homelessness.

(AQO 473/01)

During the past two years, the Housing Executive, which has a statutory duty to deal with homelessness, has continued to provide a programme of permanent housing, temporary accommodation, advice, assistance and support. That support includes funding the voluntary sector to deliver a range of services, such as accommodation and preventative measures. Most recently the Housing Executive has funded research into young people leaving care, disability and homelessness and homelessness and families. An educational package called 'Housemate', published by the charity Shelter, provides homelessness advice in the school curriculum. Other initiatives include the Simon Community's peer education and outhouse projects.

On 24 September, the Housing Executive launched a review of its homelessness strategy and services. Statutory and voluntary agencies that work in housing have been consulted, as have probation, health and social services and community groups. The consultation finishes on 31 December. The review will be finalised in March 2002, and an implementation plan will be produced to progress work on the various recommendations.

Finally, the Housing Executive spends some £11·5 million per annum on homelessness services, including administration costs.

Does the Minister agree that the figure of over 2,000 homeless people in Northern Ireland represents a social problem of mounting importance, especially as the problem can often be linked to a subculture of drugs, petty crime and, as we suspect in one case, murder? What has he done to liaise with law enforcement agencies to help to eradicate the problem before it worsens?

Essentially, homelessness is a social problem. I accept the Member's comment on the related issues of law and order and policing. As I said in my initial answer, my Department and the Housing Executive are examining a broad range of measures to tackle the problem. The seriousness of the issue and the concern that we deal with homelessness were the motivations behind the launch by the Executive of a review of its homelessness strategy and services.

Envisaged in the review are considerable joint working and inter-agency planning. The intention is to improve the service to the homeless in Northern Ireland. The recommendations of the review will have resource implications, and the House will have to address those. I am sure that the Member will want to express his views in the consultation process, and the Housing Executive will be glad to hear his views on law and order.

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Despite the measures that the Minister has outlined, and the Budget allocations to deal with homelessness, the number of people who are registered as homeless has increased in the past couple of years.

Will the review of the Executive's homelessness strategy set a target for a reduction in the number of homeless people? What further measures does the Minister intend to introduce to deal with that increasing problem?

I ask the Minister to be brief, as there are only 30 seconds left.

Homelessness is a serious issue. The review proposes the development of various support packages to prevent homelessness and to assist in resettlement and tenancy support. All Members have received a copy of that report. I urge all Members who have an interest in the matter to respond to that review. At the end of December, when that has been done, we shall be able to make recommendations.

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Executive Programme Funds

I shall make a statement on behalf of the Executive on the second set of allocations from the Executive programme funds. The allocations come from three of the five funds and are summarised in the table attached to the copies of the statement that have been given to Members. The details are also included in the Budget document that was presented to the Assembly today.

The Assembly will recall that our aim in establishing the Executive programme funds was to assist the development of new policies and programmes and to improve public services in accordance with the priorities that were identified in the first Programme for Government. We also set up the funds to help us to break away from the patterns of spending that applied under direct rule, so that local solutions could be applied to local problems.

There are five Executive programme funds: the social inclusion and community regeneration fund; the new directions fund; the infrastructure and capital renewal fund; the service modernisation fund; and the children's fund. In total, more than £370 million has been made available for the five funds in the three years from 2001-02 to 2003-04.

The Executive decided to have two rounds of allocations this year to allow time for experience to be gained in the operation of the funds and to avoid committing all the available resources in the first round of allocations. It was our intention that there should simply be one allocation round each year, after this first year of operation. In the case of the infrastructure and capital renewal fund, it was necessary to commit resources in good time earlier this year to permit investment to proceed in 2001-02. Hence, the Executive decided at the outset not to make any further allocations from that fund, even in this first year.

The Executive are making no allocations from the children's fund now, as we have agreed to consult widely on the arrangements for involving the community and voluntary sectors in that fund operation. Further allocations will be made next year, when we have considered the results of the consultation, which closes on 11 January 2002.

The purposes of the funds have been set out fully in the Programme for Government and Budget documents. Details of the criteria that we adopted to guide bidding and selection process have also been issued to Assembly Committees. Bids were sought in July, with a deadline of 24 September. Clear guidelines were issued to Departments on the principles underlying the funds, including the general criteria applicable to bids for any fund and the more specific criteria for each fund.

Departments lodged 89 bids across the three funds, totalling almost £144 million over three years. All bids have been scrutinised carefully against the criteria to receive funds by the Department of Finance and Personnel, the Economic Policy Unit and the Equality Unit, working closely with all Departments. Among other things, an assessment was made as to whether the proposals were consistent with the principles of New TSN and the statutory equality duty imposed by section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Executive have been able to draw on that analysis in considering all the bids.

For the second tranche of allocations in the 2001-02 financial year, the Executive have decided that 31 proposals, amounting to slightly more than £39 million over three years, should be supported from the three funds. That figure includes the extra £1·4 million made available to the social inclusion fund from the revised Budget announced earlier today.

Rather than go into detail on every project I shall concentrate on how those allocations will support the priorities collectively agreed by the Executive. The establishment of the new directions fund signalled the Executive's determination to promote new and innovative ways to develop and deliver public services. We received 31 bids and propose support for 12. Those funds amount to £16·7 million over the three years 2001-02 to 2003-04.

The allocations announced today will provide innovative and modern technology for the Fire Service and the Ambulance Service. The digital trunk radio system will enable an integrated response to emergencies and facilitate closer co-operation between the police, fire, ambulance and coastguard services. It should also lead to a more equitable provision of emergency services in rural areas.

New technology will also be provided in the Health Service to promote interdependence among vulnerable groups through the Department of Health, Social Service and Public Safety's and the Department for Social Development's joint venture, Getting Home Staying Home. Hospital appointment booking will be improved by better information and communication technology (ICT) equipment, and better sharing of data among different professional groups will enable care professionals to deliver services more efficiently.

The survival rate of victims of head injuries should be significantly enhanced by provision of funding for the acquired brain injury unit, while an allocation for the community psychological service should reduce referrals to primary and secondary care services.

We shall invest in education in several ways. The purchase of recently developed equipment will improve support for children with severe learning and physical difficulties, enabling many to communicate, often for the first time.

The employers for children scheme provides a bridge between employers and employees. It funds a range of innovative childcare solutions to enable more parents, especially women, to take up, and stay in, jobs. The funding announced today will provide the 35% required to match the European building for sustainable prosperity (BSP) contribution to this scheme.

Funding will be provided for the Department for Employment and Learning to introduce a rapid advancement programme in electronic engineering, which will be targeted at unemployed graduates.

The emerging soccer strategy is currently the subject of public consultation, and we shall provide support for that. The strategic proposals put forward by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure seek to provide an infrastructure for soccer development. On completion of the current consultation exercise early in 2002, funding commitments must be further assessed in the light of the draft strategy and accompanying business plan.

In respect of the service modernisation fund, we have sought to find the means to promote efficiency and innovation in the delivery of public sector services. Our focus has been on how to make a difference in the management and delivery of services for the ultimate benefit of the public. A total of 27 bids for the fund were presented by nine Departments, and it is proposed that seven should be supported in that tranche at a cost of £7 million over three years.

The development of e-government was a major theme supported in the first tranche of this year's funding. The five proposals supported in that tranche should further enhance its progress. The bid by the Department of Culture, Arts, and Leisure to provide for the integration of information management across public services will meet the requirements of freedom of information and will provide the public with electronic access to records held in the Public Record Office. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment will also advance the theme through its project for the electronic management of document records.

The modernisation of health services is a major feature of the recommended bids. The electronic management of materials in the Health Service will free up both finance and staff time for the provision of services to the public. The dedicated medicines risk management function in six major hospitals should become self-financing. That will provide better and safer services for patients.

Two further allocations will lead to significant improvements in the Health Service. The introduction of a team of "rapid responders" in each health board area will significantly enhance services to the public by reducing ambulance response times in rural areas. The purchase of one replacement and one additional MRI scanner will also enhance services by reducing waiting times and providing a consequential reduction in the number of operations.

We provided support for the electronic libraries private finance initiative (PFI) project in the first round of the fund, and, as we indicated then, we now seek to build on that initiative and significantly improve the service that school libraries can provide.

The purpose of the fund for social inclusion and community regeneration is to support actions against poverty and the development of effective community measures in urban and rural settings, as well as to support actions on community relations and for cultural diversity. Some 12 of the 31 bids submitted will be supported. Of those, three allocations will tackle different forms of disadvantage and exclusion.

We are allocating funds to the Department of Education to match funding provided by the Department of Education and Science in the South to build a centre of excellence for action on autism. That project will provide a unique and innovative centre to assist those with severe autistic disorders.

Funding is being provided to support cross-cutting outreach work, involving health trusts, youth and community groups, the police and the Probation Board for Northern Ireland. The programme has a proven track record in the Shankill and in other parts of west Belfast. The Executive's assistance will enable the scheme to continue to be extended to north and east Belfast. Subject to further evaluation, we may consider extending the programme to south Belfast and other areas.

We are also providing some support to extend the successful Making a Good Start scheme from primary one to primary two in those schools with the lowest performance figures. That will provide funds to recruit additional classroom assistants in those areas with greatest need.

Several measures are proposed to promote equality at different levels in society. The provision of match funding for the Department for Employment and Learning's EQUAL programme will test new ways of combating inequalities in the labour market.

Support for the cross-departmental Investing for Health group will help to establish four investing for health partnerships with the goal of reducing health inequalities. Support will also be provided to develop better language translation services, so that ethnic minorities may find it easier to use the Health Service. That scheme offers the potential to meet wider needs across public services.

Under the auspices of the Department for Social Development, the outer north integrated development operation in Derry will advance the pilot project - funded by the first tranche of Executive programme funds - and take account of the experience gained. Elsewhere, through the development of an outreach strategy, the programme will target those communities that are most in need. By making full use of existing skills and information in the public and voluntary sectors, it has the potential to minimise consultancy costs. The programme will be enhanced by the provision of timely and consistent statistics at neighbourhood level.

We are providing resources for the creation of a victims' fund to support the forthcoming cross-departmental victims strategy. The fund will be orientated at encouraging the development of partnerships.

After two rounds of bids, the Executive have agreed that it would be timely to reflect on the way that the funds have operated so far. The funds have the potential to provide one of the most effective ways of promoting cross-cutting work and supporting initiatives introduced by groups of Ministers working together. However, we must be sure that the resources that we have set aside are being directed effectively towards the objectives that we hope to achieve.

The first round of allocations is already making a significant impact, and that will be enhanced by the allocations announced today. However, we have concluded that it would be sensible to take stock and complete a short review of the arrangements before we make any further allocations. That will ensure that we deliver on our priorities and commitments.

In that context, we have looked carefully at the Committee for Finance and Personnel's constructive report on the Executive programme funds, which Members will have read. The Committee provided a useful commentary on the funds and offered some positive proposals for improvement.

Informed by the report, the Executive have agreed to undertake a review that seeks to improve on current arrangements. We shall consider improvements such as a more top-down approach, which may give more direction to the development of future allocations. That could be done through the establishment of ministerial subcommittees or by other means. We may also wish to review of the number of funds and their remits. There may be scope to merge two or more funds. The Executive wish to set out the strategic direction and intent of each fund as clearly as possible. We may need to place a greater emphasis on ensuring that bids are made with clear Executive and departmental priorities in mind. The funds were designed around Executive priorities and are not for luxuries. We also want to streamline procedures to reduce bureaucracy and speed up the allocation process. The Committee for Finance and Personnel made particularly pertinent points in relation to that.

In addition to improving procedures in Departments and the Executive, we shall be giving further consideration to the role of departmental Committees and responding substantively to the proposals from the Committee for Finance and Personnel. We have agreed to consult the Committee further on that and take its views into account before making any decisions.

The Executive set out to make a difference through the creation of the Executive programme funds. The allocations that we announce today are further evidence that we are beginning to work in new and distinctive ways. We have been able to address needs in a range of services and provide support for the development of improvements, especially in the Health Service. There is widespread support for that. It is important to maximise the opportunities provided by the funds and to make the most of the resources that we have.

I shall discuss the proposals that I have announced today with the Committee for Finance and Personnel. In particular, the Executive shall consult that Committee on the review that we are undertaking.

I commend the proposals to the Assembly on behalf of the Executive.

Go raibh maith agat. I welcome the additional allocations and the decision to conduct a review of how the funds are operating. Have the Executive programme funds been unsuccessful because cross-cutting measures have not been introduced and because they have failed to generate innovative ideas? What evaluation process has been built into the allocation process to determine any positive impact that the funds are having?

The funds have been successful as a means of driving a wedge into our spending patterns. They have enabled us to move away from the patterns that we inherited and to create new ones.

We want to improve aspects of the Executive programme funds, and that was positively and constructively reflected by the Committee for Finance and Personnel. We want to encourage more cross-cutting, interdepartmental bids and proposals than we have had to date, and one way to achieve that could be through the use of Executive subcommittees that could, in turn, stimulate much more interdepartmental planning and collaboration in raising proposals.

However, although there may not have been as many cross-cutting proposals as we would have liked, many of the measures being proposed by Departments not only have an impact on their own departmental programmes but offer consequential benefits to other programme areas. In future, we want to ensure that we maximise the benefits from Executive programme fund allocations.

In the context of the review work that we are undertaking, we shall try to establish what more can be done to ensure that we benefit fully from better evaluation of any measures that are funded. Given that some of the projects that we have funded in advance have been pilot projects, good evaluation will be a key element. In today's announcement, we can already see how further allocations, such as the outer north integrated development operation allocation to Derry through the Department for Social Development, follow through on earlier pilot schemes that received funding in a previous round. Again, that shows the importance of good evaluation on good pilot schemes.

Like the Chairperson of the Committee for Finance and Personnel, I welcome the programme that has been set out. I agree with his remarks about what has been said in Committee. The Minister is aware of our belief that a genuine cross-cutting element should be developed as the use of those funds develops.

However, I wish to express my disappointment at one of the allocations. Paragraph 25 notes the introduction of a digital trunk radio system. I welcome that, but there is concern about the need for digital hearing aids in the Health Service. I wonder how the Health Service can be awarded support for one digital technology, while at that same time being denied finance for another digital technology essential to the service that it provides.

The Minister's statement mentions equity, New TSN, service modernisation, and innovative and modern technology. I urge him to tell me whether he will be able to advise his successor that that matter must be considered in the near future - be it as part of the Executive programme funds or in a future monitoring round.

Given the amounts of money that we allocate, we clearly cannot meet all the bids. The Member has identified one bid that, at this stage, we have not met. Obviously, Departments are not precluded from re-examining their own prioritisation when providing services to those people who would have benefited from the equipment that was bid for on this occasion. We cannot be made to feel obliged to meet all digital bids simply because we have made provision for one form of digital equipment in response to one bid.

We simply could not make allocations on that basis. I am confident that the bid we have met for the fire and ambulance services will help to improve services to many people, especially in rural areas.

It is not possible to meet all of the bids at present. I cannot argue against the bid to fund the modernisation of audiology services. That would provide a worthwhile service, and I am sure that the Executive will want to look at that in the future. I am also sure that the Department will want to examine that as well. However, if the service is as essential as everybody says, the question is whether it should be an Executive programme funds bid anyway?

We get the cyclical argument from people that there should be cross-cutting bids - and then the bids they identify come from a particular Department. I have no problem with looking at any bid in the context of Executive programme funds allocations.

I welcome the Minister's statement, particularly the innovative and modern technology proposed under the new directions fund for the fire and ambulance services, which will lead to a more equitable provision of emergency services in rural areas. The same applies to intensive care treatment in hospitals. The Minister mentioned head injury survival rates, and rapid response units in each health board, which will help the ambulance service to help people in remote areas. Those services are extremely important.

In paragraph 35 of his statement, the Minister mentions the purchase of one replacement and one additional MRI scanner - that is magnificent news. I understand that the replacement scanner is for the Royal Victoria Hospital, and many people from across the Province who attend that hospital will welcome that. I understand that the new scanner is for the Belfast City Hospital, which is where the new cancer unit is to be. I am sure that the Minister will join me in congratulating the Friends of Montgomery House - the old Belvoir Park Hospital - because Mrs Christine Lynch informed me on Friday evening that they have now acquired funding, over time, for a new MRI scanner for Belvoir Park Hospital. That, together with the Minister's announcement of a new scanner for the Belfast City Hospital and a replacement scanner for the Royal Victoria Hospital, is a major step forward for cancer services. I am sure that the Minister will agree.

I appreciate the particular interest that the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety has taken, particularly on cancer services and the implementation of the regional cancer strategy. The Chairperson has a dedicated interest in that area, and I welcome the fact that, on behalf of the Committee, he is able to welcome the various allocations we are making to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety through Executive programme funds.

I appreciate the important contribution that scanners provide, especially in cancer services. I hope that the fact that we are able to replace a scanner, and fund a new one, will go some way to making good some of the pressures that we have identified. We hope that that will help reduce waiting times, times of worry for patients and the number of operations. No matter where such scanners are located, they make a significant contribution, not only to patient care, but to hospital performance.

As Chairperson of the Environment Committee, I must record my disappointment that the Department of the Environment's services modernisation fund bid to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of the Planning Service has not been approved. Several representations from organisations and individuals have been made to the Committee, outlining the need to enhance and reform the planning system to enable the Department to complete the work of dealing with the backlog of planning applications. During a meeting with the Confederation of British Industry, the business community expressed concern regarding the Planning Service's capacity to cope with the current levels of economic activity. The bid has, however, been unsuccessful.

The Committee is also disappointed that the new directions fund bid to establish and resource a Northern Ireland coastal forum has not been successful, especially as the proposal received widespread support in the Assembly and from the Minister.

The Committee is disappointed that the Department of the Environment's bid to promote sustainable development was not approved. I cannot understand why such a practical, innovative bid, which would help all Departments to integrate social and environmental objectives for the development of the Northern Ireland economy in a sustainable way, has not been met. The Department of the Environment's bids do not feature at all in today's list of Executive programme funds. Since April, only the road safety bid has been successful. Surely that is unacceptable treatment of the Department of the Environment. Can the Minister inform the Committee how those matters will be taken forward?

I remind Members that these announcements are taking place against the backdrop of this morning's Budget announcement, which includes an increase of 10% for next year in the budget for the Department of the Environment. That follows a high increase in this year's budget, so over two years there is a 25% increase in the Department of the Environment's budget. That provision includes increased allocations aimed specifically at making good many of the identified pressures in the Planning Service. In the context of possibly re-examining some of the criticisms and questions that have been raised about the Executive programme funds - how far they are meeting new and distinctive needs and how far they are meeting cross-cutting needs - people may wish to look at the points raised by the Member.

On the Planning Service, some issues arose in relation to the costings that were provided and whether they were containable. Given that the bid appeared to relate to policy and strategy issues, it was felt that it should be seen more as part of normal departmental work. Also, the bid was not supported by a business case. I make the point again, however, that the Planning Service is benefiting from a 25% increase in funding. I hope, therefore, that it can find ways of addressing the issues that were identified in the context of the modern office bid.

On the coastal forum, it has not yet been possible to establish any quantification of outcomes, so no allocation has been made at this stage. That does not mean that consideration in future bidding rounds might not be appropriate once the results of the scoping exercise currently being undertaken by the Department are known. I point Members to the report by the Committee for Finance and Personnel. It clearly states that we should not allocate moneys from the Executive programme funds on a speculative basis. There must be a clear case, and clear expectations as to outcomes, when we make allocations.

I welcome the Minister's statement and his attempt - which was not totally fruitless - to throw some light on what is increasingly being perceived as a rather grey area of public expenditure. Is he really satisfied that Executive programme funds are achieving the purposes for which they were established? He has made references to the need for cross-cutting. However, there is a large cloud of confusion surrounding these funds. Does he not agree that to have Departments operating on allocations of Executive programme funds while simultaneously dealing with budget allocations and monitoring rounds only adds to the confusion?

It also adds to the bureaucracy surrounding the implementation of these funds and thus clouds their purpose and intent. It diminishes any possibility for proper accountability and transparency. Does he not further agree that in dealing with Executive programme funds, to spread the butter too thinly leads to a rather tasteless and bland sandwich?

Mr Close has raised a number of points. First, I do not accept that the Executive programme funds are a rather grey area of public expenditure: they are one of the most transparent areas. They receive a degree of scrutiny and declaration. Executive programme funds decisions are fully discussed and agreed by the Executive and are, in turn, fully communicated and scrutinised in the Chamber. Executive programme funds represent a fraction of the Budget. Considering the allocations that go out through Departments - all of the precise and particular allocations made by Departments, which are not the subject of announcements or scrutiny in the Chamber - I do not accept the premise that Executive programme funds, which are washed through with more scrutiny than any other area of public expenditure, are a grey area.

The Executive programme funds can be improved. I have already reflected that the Executive recognise that, and I have expressed appreciation for some of the points and suggestions that have come from the Committee for Finance and Personnel to that end. We want to improve things.

This year, the first year of Executive programme funds, we said that we would have two allocation rounds simply so that we could learn from the first and try to improve in the second. We would see what lessons could be learnt from both allocations and try to make improvements. In future there will be only one tranche per year from the Executive programme funds. The plan is to try to take them at a time when they are distinct from the Budget, although the allocations will have to be reflected properly in any Budget statements that come forward. Those plans are afoot.

At the start, many people asked whether we needed Executive programme funds and questioned their value. People are now asking how we can improve the funds and make them work more effectively and meaningfully. That is the right question for us to ask. We have work to do in that regard.

The Minister in his previous replies has partially addressed my concern about the lack of a significant number of multidepartmental activities in the current round of Executive programme funds.

I have two questions relating to the Department for Employment and Learning. First, when did the Minister receive the Department's bid relating to the rapid advancement programme? I ask that because this particular outcome has come as a surprise to my Committee since the bids detailed to us by the Department as recently as September made no mention of the rapid advance programme bid.

Secondly, does the Minister agree that the problems surrounding adult basic skills are still such a fundamental social and economic problem that they deserve further Executive programme funding? I recognise and welcome what they received in the first round - albeit a small amount.

Anything that helps to improve adult basic skills is worthy of funding - by whatever means we can afford it, whether it is through standard Budget rounds or Executive programme funds. Improvements in that area involve the work of more than just the Department for Employment and Learning and will have benefits that extend to programmes and services outside that Department. However, that area will continue to be an eligible candidate for support from the Executive programme funds. I will get back to the Member on the precise date for receipt of applications, and he might also check with the Department for Employment and Learning.

New issues emerge in these rounds, and even though there are clear deadlines and cut-off dates, consequential developments emerge. While not running a loose regime, we have to be alert and adept in addressing other points that emerge. I hope that that clarifies matters with regard to the calendar of bids.

I welcome the statement and the additional resources in the Executive programme funds. I particularly welcome the provision of funding for the acquired brain injury unit and the introduction of a dedicated medicine risk management function in six major hospitals.

I also welcome the resources being made available to the Department of Education to extend the Making a Good Start scheme for primary two children. Will the Minister confirm that investing in children is consistent with the principles of building for the future and also consistent with his actions in caring for the children in Holy Cross Girls' Primary School in north Belfast?

I appreciate Mrs Courtney's welcome for the measures supported by these allocations, not least those in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, in which she has a particular interest. I also welcome her support for the allocation to extend the Making a Good Start scheme. The Minister of Education and his Department attach a great deal of importance to this programme. The Executive have agreed that supporting children in schools at that young age - particularly in areas of greatest need - and trying to make a difference to the educational achievements and outcomes that they can expect is a worthwhile investment.

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