AQW 16962/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Education
To ask the Minister of Education to detail the funding provided by his Department to each Sure Start in each of the last five years.
Asked by Michelle Guy MLA on 17 October 2024
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 17 October 2024
- Answer due by
- 1 November 2024
- Answered
- 28 October 202411 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Education
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The tables below show the funding allocated to each of the 38 Sure Start projects for the period 2020-21 to 2024-25, as advised by the Department of Health (DoH) which administers the programme on behalf of my Department.
Table A: Sure Start Revenue Funding Allocations
| Sure Start Project | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
| Abbey | £766,304 | £935,872 | £958,345 | £958,345 | £1,054,180 |
| Ballymena and Little Steps | £1,172,850 | £1,196,307 | £1,232,196 | £1,232,196 | £1,355,416 |
| Star (Banbridge) | £291,743 | £297,578 | £306,505 | £306,505 | £337,156 |
| Bangor | £311,995 | £361,926 | £372,784 | £372,784 | £410,062 |
| Beechmount | £232,962 | £237,621 | £244,750 | £244,750 | £269,225 |
| Blossom | £706,937 | £721,076 | £742,708 | £742,708 | £816,979 |
| Cherish | £678,648 | £989,450 | £1,002,323 | £1,002,323 | £1,102,555 |
| Clan Mor | £582,958 | £594,617 | £612,456 | £612,456 | £673,702 |
| Clogher Valley | £540,398 | £551,206 | £567,742 | £567,742 | £624,516 |
| Close to Home (Dungannon) | £769,378 | £784,766 | £808,309 | £808,309 | £889,140 |
| Coleraine | £989,889 | £1,070,589 | £1,102,707 | £1,102,707 | £1,212,978 |
| Colin Neighbourhood | £846,419 | £863,347 | £889,247 | £889,247 | £978,172 |
| Dalriada | £649,709 | £710,366 | £766,971 | £817,353 | £899,088 |
| Downpatrick | £870,351 | £887,758 | £914,391 | £914,391 | £1,005,830 |
| Dungiven | £706,415 | £720,543 | £742,159 | £742,159 | £816,375 |
| East Belfast | £943,997 | £1,038,343 | £1,063,890 | £1,063,890 | £1,170,279 |
| Edenballymore | £611,168 | £623,391 | £642,093 | £642,093 | £706,302 |
| Glenbrook | £534,843 | £545,540 | £561,906 | £561,906 | £618,097 |
| GOLD | £1,071,748 | £1,152,099 | £1,186,661 | £1,186,661 | £1,305,327 |
| Horizon | £567,034 | £617,432 | £635,955 | £635,955 | £699,551 |
| ARKE (Keady / Callanbridge) | £355,558 | £512,938 | £522,723 | £522,723 | £574,995 |
| Kilkeel | £223,626 | £295,621 | £304,490 | £304,490 | £334,939 |
| LAST | £779,824 | £795,420 | £819,283 | £819,283 | £901,211 |
| Lisburn | £343,992 | £470,690 | £479,207 | £479,207 | £527,128 |
| Little Hands (Ballymagroarty) | £732,011 | £635,985 | £743,542 | £743,542 | £817,896 |
| Lower Ards | £719,510 | £798,112 | £816,452 | £816,452 | £898,097 |
| Orana (Newry City) | £810,354 | £894,083 | £915,302 | £915,302 | £1,006,832 |
| Outer West | £533,585 | £544,257 | £560,585 | £560,585 | £616,644 |
| Rainbow | £428,590 | £516,600 | £526,495 | £526,495 | £579,145 |
| Saol Ur | £503,024 | £513,084 | £528,477 | £528,477 | £581,325 |
| Shankill | £658,053 | £671,214 | £691,350 | £691,350 | £760,485 |
| Shantallow | £709,820 | £724,016 | £745,736 | £745,736 | £820,310 |
| SMILE | £702,850 | £791,711 | £809,859 | £809,859 | £890,845 |
| South Armagh | £816,400 | £934,011 | £956,428 | £956,428 | £1,052,071 |
| South Belfast | £996,561 | £1,016,492 | £1,046,987 | £1,046,987 | £1,151,686 |
| Splash | £818,471 | £834,840 | £859,885 | £859,885 | £945,874 |
| Strabane | £872,162 | £889,605 | £916,293 | £916,293 | £1,007,922 |
| Waterside (East Bank) | £538,771 | £605,814 | £623,988 | £623,988 | £686,387 |
| Total: | £25,388,908 | £27,344,320 | £28,221,180 | £28,271,562 | £31,098,722 |
Table B: Sure Start Capital Funding Allocations
| Sure Start Project | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
| Abbey | £94,349 | £118,000 | |||
| Ards | £75,919 | ||||
| Cherish | £42,439 | ||||
| Horizon | £2,205 | ||||
| Little Hands (Ballymagroarty) | £44,780 | ||||
| Shankill | £95,000 | £111,000 | |||
| Total: | £183,773 | £288,919 | £111,000 | Nil | Nil |
Table C: Sure Start Speech, Language and Communication Allocations*
| Health and Social Care Trust Area | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
| Belfast | £355,335 | £367,882 | £384,521 | £384,521 | £422,973 |
| Northern | £223,256 | £218,198 | £230,347 | £230,347 | £253,382 |
| South Eastern | £184,441 | £193,570 | £204,980 | £204,980 | £225,478 |
| Southern | £328,979 | £341,624 | £360,278 | £360,278 | £396,306 |
| Western | £324,480 | £341,851 | £363,313 | £363,313 | £399,644 |
| Regional | £120,179 | £121,890 | £125,546 | £125,546 | £138,101 |
| Total: | £1,536,670 | £1,585,015 | £1,668,985 | £1,668,985 | £1,835,884 |
*DoH advises that it is not possible to disaggregate Trust values to individual Sure Start project allocations.
I have already funded expansion of the Sure Start programme in 2024-25, bringing 22 new geographical areas into the programme. Further expansion will be considered within the Executive’s Early Learning and Childcare Strategy and will be dependent on additional funding being made available by the Executive and the capacity of the early years workforce.