AQW 34785/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Education
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any initiatives and decisions funded by his Department's discretionary budget, including a breakdown of costs, in each of the last 3 years.
Asked by Michelle Guy MLA on 5 November 2025
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 5 November 2025
- Answer due by
- 20 November 2025
- Answered
- 26 November 202521 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Education
- Priority question
- No
Answer
In response to the Department’s request for clarification, the member has clarified that the question relates specifically to the Department’s budget that it spends and excludes the funding allocated to the Education Authority, schools, or any of the Department’s other Non-Departmental Public Bodies.
A detailed breakdown of my Department’s budgets over the last three years is as per the table below. Please note that my Department does not operate a discretionary budget. While these costs are not statutory, they are considered either contractual, necessary to support statutory educational duties or deliver Ministerial or Executive priorities.
| Area | £000 | ||
| 2024-25 | 2023-24 | 2022-23 | |
| Departmental salaries and overheads | 36,542 | 35,767 | 35,102 |
| Early Years Programs (with the exception of Early Learning and Childcare strategy) | 32,194 | 34,743 | 34,216 |
| Fair Start | 901 | 924 | 466 |
| Transfer Procedure | - | 3 | 3 |
| Board Member Appointments | 15 | 10 | - |
| British Council | 90 | 120 | 180 |
| Sectoral Support Bodies | 1,282 | 1,282 | 1,271 |
| Northern Ireland Contribution to EU Erasmus + Programme | 25 | 35 | 35 |
| School Governor Services | 12 | 12 | 7 |
| Exceptional Circumstances Body | 200 | 245 | 245 |
| Sharing the Learning Programme | 180 | 180 | 200 |
| Access NI Vetting Checks | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| Doctorate Course in Educational Child and Adolescent Psychology | 1,787 | 1,675 | 1,440 |
| Contractual costs in respect of Teachers' Pension | 245 | 495 | 245 |
| Childline - Helpline Expansion (TPO) | 159 | 159 | 266 |
| Children's Law Centre | 50 | 51 | 50 |
| Women's Aid Helping Hands Project (TPO) | 45 | 50 | 60 |
| Investment & Infrastructure Directorate - Contractual Fees | 157 | 369 | 833 |
| Research (Schools) (including PISA, PIRLs and TIMSS ) | 499 | 532 | 684 |
| Gaeltacht Experience within ITE (PGCE – St. Mary’s UC) | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Strule Legal and Associated Costs | 35 | 26 | 44 |
| Transformation Ballots for Schools | 35 | 41 | - |
| Wrap Around Education Support Pilot Programme | 501 | 486 | 463 |
| Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South (SCoTENS) | 22 | 22 | 25 |
| PlayBoard NI Play Policy | 131 | 131 | 164 |
| Safer Schools App | 149 | 149 | 90 |
| Policy and Programme Reviews | 114 | 73 | 435 |
| Special Schools Strategic Leadership Support | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Mental Capacity Act Implementation Work | 5 | 20 | - |
| Altram - Irish Medium Pre-school Support Service | 158 | 100 | - |
| Integrated Education Support | 6 | 6 | - |
| European Agency for the Development of SEN | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Nurture External Research | 118 | - | - |
| Third-party organisations no longer funded due to budget constraints | - | 352 | 2,436 |
| Towards Inclusion Policy Development | - | 65 | - |
| Valuing Education (Education Works) Advertising Campaign | - | - | 100 |
| Emotional Health and Wellbeing Framework | - | - | 72 |
| Teachers’ Pay Agreement 2017-19 – Workforce Project | - | - | 67 |
| Happy Healthy Minds – Miscellaneous | - | - | 50 |
| Attendance Strategy | - | - | 10 |
| CCEA Assessors | - | - | 10 |
| Queens Jubilee Big Message Media Presentation | - | - | 8 |
| Middletown Holdings Company | - | - | 7 |
| Poem Writing Competition | - | - | 2 |
| Total Budgets | 75,712 | 78,182 | 79,342 |
| Total Resource Budget | 3,149,354 | 2,878,786 | 2,647,854 |
| Total as a percentage of overall Resource Budget | 2.40% | 2.72% | 3.00% |