To ask the Minister of Education when he will repeal the relevant section of Part V of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 to ensure penultimate age children do not continue to be inappropriately placed in statutory nurseries.

Mr Givan

I think that it is question 7. Current legislation requires all statutory preschool settings to admit penultimate-age children who apply for a funded preschool education place if they still have places remaining after all target-age applicants have been considered. Research is clear that preschool education is not age- and stage-appropriate provision for penultimate-age children. The draft early learning and childcare strategy that was issued for public consultation included this action:

That issue has been raised with me by stakeholders on many occasions, and I have listened to their concerns. New legislation is required if we are to remove that requirement, and I intend to commence public consultation on the issue before the end of this mandate. In advance of the final strategy, however, I have already provided support to enable the expansion of targeted early learning programmes, such as Sure Start, Pathway and Toybox, which can provide more age-appropriate support for penultimate-age children. Further actions to continue those expansions are proposed in the draft strategy and were strongly supported in the consultation responses. In addition, the strategy includes an action to provide access to age- and stage-appropriate:

I intend to bring the final early learning and childcare strategy to the Executive in the coming weeks. Progression of all actions will, of course, be subject to the necessary Executive approvals at all stages and the availability of funding.

Mr Givan

The strategy will build on what we have already implemented. I want to do more. We were able to expand Sure Start, for example, by making the temporary areas permanent. We also have been able to allow referrals to Sure Start settings from outside the identified catchment areas. I have been to a number of settings, as, I am sure, has the Member. In those settings, you see that that kind of support is more appropriate for penultimate-age children, who are younger, rather than their going into nursery school settings. The provision of Sure Start is one area that I want to see enhanced, and the strategy references that. Getting a more tailored and bespoke approach for penultimate-age children and those who are younger is the ambition of the draft early learning and childcare strategy. I make the point that it has not yet been approved by the Executive, and, obviously, funding issues are attached to it. In seeking to remove penultimate-age children from nursery schools, we need to make sure that alternative provision is in place. I do not believe, however, that the current position is right, based on the evidence on what is best for the children involved. I will do the consultation on that, and people will get the opportunity to feed into it, and we can move forward from there.

Mr Brooks

The Minister's recent changes to the use of the socially disadvantaged circumstances (SDC) criterion have been roundly welcomed by my constituents, but some others have sought to misrepresent those changes. Will the Minister outline what he hopes to achieve by those measures?

Mr Givan

Like the Member, I found that the changes were welcomed in my constituency. I am not surprised by that, given the number of parents who were often deeply frustrated that their child was discriminated against. The SDC criterion was established in 1998 to maximise access to funded preschool places for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. However, that was at a time when only 45% of immediate preschool places were being funded. All preschool places are now catered for by way of provision. The circumstances have significantly changed from what they were 30 years ago.

Welfare reform has also had an impact. As welfare reform has expanded provision, many more young people and families have been able to avail themselves of the criterion, because it has been incorrectly read into by EA. That was not the original basis upon which decisions were taken for the criterion to be applied. This not only corrects that change but ensures equality of access for all children.

Mr Speaker

We move on to topical questions. Cara Hunter is not in her place.