31/01/2012 Stormont Today

Hello and welcome to Stormont today. Fred Goodwin is stripped of his

knighthood, but keeps his pension pot of �12 million. It's unlikely

he'll get much sympathy. Here on the hill, MLAs concentrate on the

young, youth unemployment an the eternal catch 22. A particular

problem faced by young people is in sufficient experience and it's

difficult to get such experience without having a job. There's a

danger of young people being lost to long-term unemployment. And grab

a box of tissues, as MLAs reveal their tearful secrets. People don't

realise that behind every hard- nosed politician, there's a person

who is soft about something and certainly sad songs really do get

me. With me throughout, Kula Yusuma, Concerns for a lost generation of

young people deprived of the opportunity to join the workforce

has become a major political issue, not just here, but also throughout

Britain. With me now is Kula Yusuma. It is difficult in this climate but

there's a loft young people facing unemployment potentially for a few

years to come. There is. It's nearly one fifth of 16 to 24-year-

olds find themselves unemployed and not in training on education. It's

in the a straightforward as saying let's get them jobs. There are a

group of young people who need a lot of training and support to find,

to get the skills to get into the work place. You're right, the

economic downturn, you see, seeing statistics, in Spain it's as much

as 50% of young people are unemployed. This is a global issue

we have to address properly. What do you think is the answer then?

Even this phrase NEETs, not in education and training, has

negative connotations. Yeah absolutely. Because we like to

label people, because we can put them in a box. That's what I mean

about things being complicated. You have a group of young people,

several thousand young people who left school with no qualifications,

without any skills to take them into a work place. They're barely

able to read and write. We need to support them. That's what

organisations like Include Youth are doing. We need to give them

proper financial support to be able to progress up the ladder. At the

other end you have graduates coming out with very good degrees and no

jobs. In those cases we need to get them, again into the work place and

help employers give them a chance to take them in and hopefully, we

can see these young people go through. But there's a lot of work

to be done. It's great that the Assembly's talking about it. We

need to see some action. Stay with us. Now, young people were very

much on the agenda today with questions to both the employment

and learning and the Education Ministers. But first, you might

remember two weeks ago, the Alliance Party's Judith Cochrane

told the Assembly how tempted she was to kiss John O'Dowd. Well,

today, it was her colleague Chris Lyttle who seemed keen to start a

little bromance with the minister. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. My

colleague Judith Cochrane threatened to kiss the minister for

the start of progress in regards to nursery provision. If he could sort

out the need for new build skills I maybe come down there and kiss

himself -- him myself as well. Can I ask the minister with regards to

communication with the schools, can I ask the minister how exactly he's

going to commune the deadline and time scales for this plan with the

schools who've been waiting for these new buildings for years?

will have to tell my wife there is a House where I can get a kiss in,

so there is. Last week the minister told education boards he was

unhappy with an audit of schools they'd carried out. He sent it back.

Today, members wanted to know more. Due to the sensitivity of the

publication of the audit, what implications do you see for schools

within north Belfast? Well, I understand there is some

sensitivity around the publication of the audit. Rather -- whether

it's north Belfast or any other constituency, the sensitivity of

the information, most of the information will be in the public

domain. I am bringing the information together, so I am as a

minister, have a clear picture of our schools across the area. This

is not the end game in relation to these aud its. The media should not

be using them as a league table or what mapping out the destiny for

schools. There may well be schools that are clearly identified as

having such problems that they are unsustainable into the future. If

that is the case, I have a duty to ask the managing authorities what

plans are in place to secure the education of the young people at

those schools. But I think in mat jort of case what's we will see is

a position where schools need further support and we'll ask what

further support are you giving those schools? How are we assisting

schools to work out of their current financial or educational

underattainment. We're entering the next stage of viability audits.

This is not the final destination. These reports should not be used as

a league table or speculate them in any way that would damage a school.

Onto the employment and learning minister and the issue of

unemployment among young people, clearly one of the most pressing

matters facing his department. Deputy Speaker, members have tabled

five questions all in the theme of youth unemployment and one on

general unemployment. With permission I will address youth

unemployment as a group and will see additional time in that regard.

The increase in youth claimant unemployment, those aged 24 and

under, between November 2007 and November 2011, for Northern Ireland

was 155% compared to the overall UK rise of 97%. While the rate of

youth unemployment may be marginally lower in Northern

Ireland at 18.4% compared to 21.1% to the UK as a whole, it

constitutes a major challenge. There are around 20,000 young

people who are unemployed here. Youth unemployment brings its own

challenges. Young people risk being denied the opportunity to acquire

the skills. A particular problem is insufficient experience to compete

for jobs and it's difficult to get such experience without having a

job. There's a danger of young people being lost to long-term

unemployment. This is an international issue and many

governments have made targeted interventions N Great Britain the

Government introduce aid youth contract. This initiative will

invest 940 million in new measures over three years to help young

progress in the labour market. It provides for advisors, 100,000 work

placements over three years, a new wage incentive to encourage jobs

and a new target for NEETs. In addition to youth contract measures

Wales has put in place the jobs growth Wales programme a �75

million scheme designed to create 4,000 jobs a year for young people.

Scotland has in place the Scotland scheme whereby organisations are

offered a grant of up to �6,000 for each job created. The scheme will

create 2,000 jobs in the next three years and represents additional

investment of �12.4 million. My department has a range of measures

to help the unemployed to find work. More needs to be done. Therefore I

have circulated to my executive colleagues a set of proposals to

help young people and to address the threats to the future of our

economy if we do not take effective action now. The executive should

shortly consider the options and it is for the minister of finance to

consider the issue of funding in the first instance. I will make a

full statement to the Assembly when a package of measures has been

agreed. This youth contract that the minister referred to there,

what do we need to do here, because as I understand it, the departments,

it's up to them how they spend the money. They don't necessarily have

to put it into youth employment. hope to goodness they do put it

into youth employment. Our understanding is that Stephen Farry

has bid for a proportion to come to Northern Ireland. It has to go into

programmes and processs to get young people, a range of young

people into employment. The one thing that he didn't mention and I

hope he will mention is how we give young people, there are a group of

young people working incredibly hard to get into training and

employment, but on, are on pre- vocational programmes. They're not

given a penny by the state. Why as their friends in tech, in colleges,

within so-called recognised training organisations get a

training allowance. One thing he has to do is recognise the work

that so many young people are doing. I'm hoping that some of this youth

contract money can be spent on giving young people a training

allowance to help them build the skill that's they need to get into

the work place. The Health Minister has announced what he's called a

full and rigorous investigation into the sued moan as infections

which claimed the -- pseudo moan yaz infections which claimed the

lives of four babies. Edwin Poots told the Assembly that the actions

of trust officials need to be rigorously examined. I must ensure

the review is thorough and rigorous and makes recommendations on

immediate action that's we need to take. I want an internal report by

the end of March so that urgent actions can be taken. He will be

aware that there have been calls for a public inquiry, particularly

from the parents of one of the children, one of the babies who

very sadly died. He's opted for an independent investigation, could he

tell the House why he's opted for an investigation rather than a full

blown public inquiry? In terms of public inquiries, there has been

calls from at least one of the families for a public inquiry by

some members of this house and indeed some people in the press and

I realise that there is a huge degree of public concern at this

time and people want answers. I believe an independent

investigation and review will provide the urgent answers that I

require. As I already stated, I've asked the chief executive of the

RQIA to assist me in a full, rigorous, independent investigation

into these incidents. A public inquiry in and of itself under the

inquiries act 2005 would not be the quickest or most effective way of

actually getting the answers. it was what everyone was talking

about here on the Hill yesterday, would Tom Elliott add insult to

injury and replace David McNarry on the education committee with his

Strangford colleague Mike Nesbitt? The Speaker made the announcement

to the House. Order. Members order. I would like first of all to inform

members that I have been notified by the nominating officer of the

Ulster Unionist Party Mr Tom Elliott. Mr David McNarry has been

replaced as deputy chairperson of the committee for education. Mr

Elliot has now nominated Mr Mike Nesbitt to be deputy chairperson of

the committee for education and Mr Mike Nesbitt has accepted the

appointment. A note from our producer, please be

more careful with what you do with your papers and microphone. Earlier,

I spoke to the new deputy chair, Mike Nesbitt. Well, I'm sorry about

the circumstances which have led to the appointment, but I'm very

pleased to be on the education committee. I think education and

enterprise would have been my two picks, my passions. I'm very much

looking forward to working with Joanne Dobson and the rest of the

committee. David McNarry talked about two agendas in the Ulster

Unionist Party last night. Which do you fit into? I didn't hear what he

said. All I'm focused on is reading my brief for the education

committee which meets tomorrow morning at 10.30. A lot of viewers

will be parents of school children. A lot of your viewers will be

teachers. I don't think they care about the internal maccinations of

the party. They care about the future of the education of their

children. There's not much more important than that in what we do.

Surely you care about what happens in the party. I do. A lot of what

we do is internal. I'm not going to wash our dirty linen in public. I'm

focused on my role and getting myself up to speed on the actual

they've covered so far and what they're covering tomorrow. You'll

be aware that Stormont and beyond is awash with rumours, do you see

yourself in some future role as leader of the Ulster Unionist

Party? If you look at the clippings, you'll see that I have said

publicly and unequivocally, I will never, ever challenge Tom Elliott's

leadership. But if he was to step aside, would

you put your name forward? If the building was to collapse, would I

still want to be an MLA, who knows. What happens now with the party?

Obviously, basil McCrae and Danny Kennedy gave a news conference this

afternoon, how do you reassure supporters you're on track going

forward? Last night I was at the division Alanual general meeting of

Fermanagh. There were about 160 people there. They're totally

united. I was at a party assembly group meeting this week, totally

united. I was in east Belfast last week, totally united. Are you sure

there's an issue here? Are you sure it isn't just to some extent a

media invention? I'm very happy. I'm very confident that the Ulster

Unionist Party is moving in the right direction. My focus isn't so

much on the party, it's on what the people who are paying my salary

elected me to do. As of tomorrow that is to do with education policy.

Are you supportive of Tom Elliott's action against David McNarry

considering he's your colleague in Strangford. It's not a question of

whether he's my colleague in Strangford. The leader has taken

action, we all in the Assembly group support the leader. You don't

regret to see him go? I told you that I regretted the circumstances

under which I come to be the vie chair marn of the education

committee. That's what I'm focused on. I'm happy to continue talking

about that. In terms of anything else, I understand as a journalist

you're going to poke around and see if you can get me so say something,

if there is dirty linen, I'm not Conall McDevitt com and affable

enough MLA you might think, but he seemed to get under the skin of the

Social Development Minister day during a debate on pensions. Nelson

McCausland was summing up at the end of a debate proposing the

second stage of the Pensions Bill which would keep us in line with

the rest of the UK when he picked on the SDLP member. I think that is

indeed the right and the responsible way to take this

forward. Could I actually just say in his case I do not commend

irresponsibility and financial and fiscal incompetence from people you

cannot work out... Can I make two point. If he wanted to speak on the

matter, he might have been in the House. He could not even be

bothered to be here to ask the question or make an intervention.

The key point is and maybe he could tell me where he is going to

conjure up �700 million from? A quick answer will do. Health or

education? Which are you going to cut? I thank the Minister for

giving way. The neighbour is McDevitt, minister. Committee

members often spend hours listening to presentations from ministers or

interest groups, but sometimes their burden is less pressing and

then they can become a little wistful, nostalgic event. We start

our weekly look at the work of the committees at education where they

are discussing P E. Is it compulsory to provide swimming

lessons or swimming for schools? This particular school does not

have access to a nearby swimming facility. My understanding is that

it does not provide swimming lessons. Then I made inquiries and

the Department were very good at coming back and said, it is a

statutory requirement, it is in the curriculum. A think it has to be

noted that whilst in the past football and Gallic were perceived

to be predominantly male who played those games. But when David speaks

about rugby, what about hockey and other games that females play? That

does not fit in. In my own area we have a fantastic hockey team. If

that is not being funded, I know the community fund so that and the

coaches come from the community. If we are talking in terms of equality,

I think we should include female games like hockey. And cricket. It

was an amazing thing why cricket was such eight Keene Sport west of

the province, which is a very English thing. The answer I was

given when I asked why there was a cricket club in Brady, at the Mills

was the reason why. The mill owners would have provided a sport and

they played cricket and that was the link. What it does raise his

maybe we should look at this as another potential area for inquiry

for us. I agree with that and I agree with what Mekelle is saying.

I used to play hobby and the next top you was the best game. It is an

important piece of work for the committee to undertake in terms of

the judiciary. Could I suggest that we invite a witness to give

evidence on this issue? Can I anticipate the witness. There has

been a certain former Secretary of State who has written a book and he

has very definitely outspoken views on this issue. He has taken the

very unusual step of making a public comment about this. He says

it is an assault on the independence of the judiciary. That

was a response to Mr Payne's comments that Sir Paul Girvan was

off his rocker! Being serious about it, he has clearly a very strong

views on this. He has been on the inside track as far as this issue

is concerned. I am proposing that given the fact he has very strong

views that we invite him to come before this committee and give

evidence. On the judiciary? On the appointments to the judiciary.

to attend we will have terms of reference for our work on this and

part of that will be witnesses and if you want to pick up almost

Secretary of State for this list... They were talking about p, but on a

more serious education at, is there some sort of early intervention

needed to prevent children ever leaving school without some basic

qualifications and the skills to read and write? Absolutely.

Education is one of the biggest factors that can help children

overcome some disadvantage. Our education system is very good. I am

not going to criticise it for the sake of it, but too many people

coming out at the other end with not enough and generally they come

from poorer communities weather have been family difficulties

through no fault of their own, so we need an education system that

can educate all its children. That may mean a classroom assistant, it

may mean children come out of the classes to get extra attention. It

does not necessarily mean that many resources. It means we need to

think differently about how we educate some of our children.

Should we have targets to say that children should never be able to

leave school without being able to read or write? I am not saying

targets is right, because we have seen what is happening with league

tables, but we should have targets that recognise a child's potential.

If you have had a difficult time in your life, like a bereavement, as

you may not get a GCSE at 16, but you may get it at 18 once things

have settled a bit. It is to make sure children learn in the best way

that they can. It has been a busy week for the Ulster Unionist Party,

but today they attempted to move on as Martina told me earlier. We had

Basil McCrae and Danny Kennedy appeared together at a news

conference to say how much they supported the leader and they

wanted to move forward and the party was united. They came

together and Baz on a crate is seen as the man who prefers opposition

and sees the fortunes of the Ulster Unionist Party best served by going

into opposition, with Danny Kennedy the Minister involved in the talks,

both different wings of the party coming together. Interesting DAVID

COULTHARD: Nari mentioned agenda as last night. When he talked about

two competing agendas he meant those two interests. Although David

McNarry appeared on the programme last night, as a hurt and winded

MLA, who he said was unfairly punished, he was more angry and

vengeful today. He said this will be a 15 round fight and is not

going quietly. The we have had discussions about two agendas and

is this all semantics? He said last night he did not recognise this

term a liaison officer, which was how Tom Elliot referred to him in

the talks with the DUP. He spoke of a panel of four. He would not tell

us who else was on this panel, but informed sources tell as it was

David Campbell, the chairman of the party, Danny Kennedy and the Ulster

Unionist leader Tom Elliot. I rang Tom Elliot and asked about the

panel and he said he did not recognise there was a panel. He

said there were meetings, there were areas of co-operation. The

last meeting was 45 minutes. He said there were games being played,

but in fairness to DAVID COULTHARD: Nari he was never officially known

as a liaison officer. -- DAVID COULTHARD: Nari. We have been

asking the politicians about which sad songs would make them cry. What

would bring a tier 2 your eye? people say I am heartless and it is

not possible to make me cry, but I say Elvis Presley and you can play

his music at my funeral, which would cheer up many people around

here. Perish the thought. Listening to a sad song has reduced seven out

of 10 men to tears according to a studied. If the title music of this

programme brings a tier 2 your eye, get eight issue and keep watching

as MLAs reveal a softer side. was being facetious I would say

every song that the Reverend McRae recorded. It would be a song by a

group called the Stanlow brothers, different things to different

people and it is a survey of how people view things if you are a

father, a brother, a son and you are all those things. When I

listened to my children perform, the tears come to my eyes. But I

remember when my sister, who is a trained vocalists, did her first

solo in church and she sang, I was moved to tears. Every time I hear

that song in church tears come back to me. In a survey it brought back

memories of the Show Band Days and suddenly the band would start to

play Elvis and the men started to cry. It told the story of the

orphanages which were in vogue in the Sixties and the whole idea of

people turning up to adopt somebody and passing that little child

because it was blind. That really was emotional. People do not

realise that behind every hard- nosed politician there is a person

who is soft about something and it certainly sad songs really get me.

I do not know which is worse, nobody's child or two little boys.

What would bring a tier 2 your eye? I have two if you indulge me. One

is the South African national anthem and that always makes me cry.

The other is Peggy Gordon, an old Irish folksong, because my children

performed it when they were very young. It still brings a tier 2 I

just thinking about it. One is personal and won his emotional

thinking about people's struggles. Anything to do with children is

tricky. Thank you for being our guest this event. That is it for