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Ulster Unionist Education spokesman and Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea today said Education Minister Catriona Ruane was dodging key questions in education. In a statement Mr McCrea said,

“We have many great schools in Lagan Valley. The threat of closure, merger or take over weighs heavily on every bodies mind. Confusion, fear and Stress stalk the classroom and those waiting outside the schools. What is happening they ask? If one of the problems with the 11+ was the stress that it induced, the current situation is 10 times worse. Some pupils in Year 5 have now started tests again. We look to the Minister for Education for some guidance and get nothing only smiles and soft words.

Her decisions appear muddled and confused. Why did she open the three schools and close the fourth. Why has she not tackled the more pressing issues which require urgent attention?

It does seem rather arrogant, provocative even and it certainly does not appear to be a strategy designed to encourage engagement, cooperative working and buy-in.

This may be a misunderstanding, I have heard her say on many occasions that she will meet with the committee and she will listen to their views but and there is always a “but”, if she can’t convince them she will then do it her way.

This does not appear to be a winning strategy, it suggests a lack of confidence, an inability to make a cogent argument and such an approach has profound implications for the long term future of this Assembly.

There are decisions to be made, hard decisions and but these decisions should not be made in an arbitrary manner. Given the divided nature of our society and the need to build a consensus before anything happens, the central role of the Assembly in this process must be respected.

When will the Minister bring forward for debate issues such as academic selection, Irish medium, numeracy and literacy, early years?

These issues are of huge interest to the public and would inform both her and the public. The Minister appears to believe that if she smiles sweetly, and uses comforting words that this will suffice. It won’t! Education in all its forms has profound implications for society and it is time we talked about the issues and made some decisions.”

Speaking at the launch of Breast Cancer Awareness Month at Stormont today, UUP South Down MLA John McCallister said,

“I welcome today’s launch of the Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month for October. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer amongst women in Northern Ireland. Every year around 900 women are diagnosed with the disease and one in twelve women will develop the cancer during their life time. These large numbers mean that many families in our society will, either directly or indirectly, have their lives affected by breast cancer.

“I am pleased that because of recent developments in awareness and early detection, recovery rates are showing signs of improvement. Today in Northern Ireland there are 6,000 women living with a diagnosis of Breast Cancer. To ensure that we continue to see an improvement in these figures all women should be entitled to a detection service which is easily accessible and does not require excessive waiting times.

“I urge everyone to get involved in Breast Cancer Awareness Month, both by increasing awareness of the signs and symptoms of the disease and by raising much needed financial support. It is essential that adequate funding is available to allow research to continue, so that hopefully one day this will be a thing of the past. It is also crucial that those who are experiencing the reality of breast cancer are treated with dignity and are provided with the support they deserve.”

Ulster Unionist Children and Families spokesman Roy Beggs MLA today hit back at the Alliance Party over their criticism at the UUP tabling another motion on Fuel Poverty.

In a statement Mr. Beggs said,

“it is incredibly disappointing – and somewhat surprising - that the Alliance Party’s Naomi Long has decided that the Assembly is wasting its time debating fuel poverty. With my Ulster Unionist colleague John McCallister, I submitted a motion calling again on the Social Development Minister to review the fuel poverty strategy. Our last motion in the spring calling for this won all-Party support in the Assembly. Despite this there has been no review. The Assembly exists not to be an entertaining debating society, but to hold Ministers to account. This is precisely the aim of our motion.

“Fuel poverty costs the taxpayer – particularly in putting a strain every winter on the NHS. And that is why Early Day Motions on fuel poverty are brought before Parliament every year. It is also worth bearing in mind that the Assembly is about to consider the Executive’s Budget, a crucial time in the Assembly’s scrutiny of the Executive’s action. There is no better time to raise the issue of fuel poverty.

“While I obviously thank the Alliance representative on the business committee for deciding – unlike Naomi Long – that our fuel poverty motion is important enough to debate, I trust that the Alliance Assembly group will sort out their internal communications before Tuesday’s debate and ensure that they support our motion”

Following a vote in the Assembly supporting a UUP motion to oppose any attempts to replace the national minimum wage with regional variants, UUP Lagan Valley MLA Basil McCrea said in a statement,

“The minimum wage is about trying to ensure fairness and equity in the employment market. It is designed to look after the many people who work hard at jobs that require only modest, formal qualifications. The minimum wage is their safeguard to a fair wage for a fair day’s work and we must resist any attempts to reduce it or tinker with it.

It is equally important that we provide the correct incentive for those people who are currently on benefits but that are able to enter the job market. Maintaining the differential between benefits and entry level jobs is of paramount importance to the future growth of our economy.”

UUP Leader Sir Reg Empey today appointed Paula Bradshaw as the Party’s spokesman on Urban regeneration.

Paula is the Director of the Greater Village Regeneration Trust which deals specifically with urban regeneration in the Village area of South Belfast.

In a statement Sir Reg said,

“Urban regeneration is a policy that is not only close to my own heart as an MLA for East Belfast, but of vital importance to the future prosperity, stability and well being of Northern Ireland as a whole. Tackling the massive difficulties faced by our urban areas is a tremendous challenge but not one the UUP is prepared to shy away from. Unlike previous direct rule governments, we will not pay lip service to it or brush it under the carpet.

Paula brings a wealth of experience to the role as an expert and an instigator of meaningful, sustainable and long term positive changes to urban regeneration in the Village area. I have every faith that her experience will be of benefit to other parts of Northern Ireland.

Paula Bradshaw added,

“The need for an urgent sustainable and workable urban regeneration strategy is the unfortunate result of over 30 years of systematic neglect by successive governments. Urban regeneration is not simply about attracting inward investment. It also covers the provision of decent social housing, improving education, tackling health problems and dealing with the overall urban environment.

In my experience there are no quick-fix solutions and it will take time and a great deal of government commitment and resources to begin to turn-around the problem. I intend to use my role to bring urban regeneration policies and initiatives to the attention of our key local decision makers and our media, but above all I want to ensure that the successful on-going work that the Greater Village Regeneration Trust has been engaged in can be tailored and translated to other urban areas across Northern Ireland. I look forward to meeting the challenges ahead of me.”

UUP Social Development spokesman Michael Copeland today responded to the Federation of Housing Associations call for social housing provision to be placed at the top of the Assembly agenda.

In a statement Mr Copeland, who held discussions with Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie yesterday on the housing shortage in East Belfast, said in a statement,

“I echo the calls of the Federation of Housing Associations. In my experience there are two basic common threads that stand out and need to be urgently addressed when looking at the overall situation.

Firstly, the state of many of the properties are deteriorating or have already deteriorated to sub-standard levels. Secondly, demand is outstripping supply.

Many of the cases I deal with are for those who have been left with faulty heating systems, leaking roofs, overcrowding, damp and in some extreme cases, rat infestations. Nobody, whatever circumstances that they find themselves in, should have to live with these conditions.

Our Offices have details of a great many of sub-standard Executive houses and many horror stories of the residents of some of these properties. I am convinced that while large in number, our files are only giving us a pixel of the overall picture.

This crisis will get worse. That is why a serious attempt must be made to tackle it. The sticking plaster approach of throwing a few thousand here, a million there will not work in the long run. The Housing Executive is not to wholly to blame given their tight financial constraints, the root cause, I believe, is decades of under-investment by successive governments.

For me one of life’s most basic rights is a decent place to live. Currently to a great many people this is a right that is denied to them. The Budget, limited as it is, must do more to start tackling the problem otherwise I can foresee the sight of a great many more homeless people on the streets of Northern Ireland.”

Ulster Unionist Assembly member for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, Tom Elliott MLA has recently met representatives of Carers Northern Ireland to discuss the plight of the many carers in Northern Ireland. This includes the low paid domiciliary care workers and also those who provide unpaid care by looking after an ill, frail or disabled family member.

Tom said: “It is unfortunate that as we enter the first ever ElderCare Week (3–9 September 2007) the plight facing an ever increasing ageing population is growing. A recent survey has revealed that 42% think that care and support services for older people are worse compared with 5 years ago. It must be remembered that many carers’ do this duty, seven days a week and 52 weeks a year. The withdrawal of Home Help service from many elderly for the preparation of meals has been replaced in many instances by the ‘Meals on Wheels’ service which leads to a feeling of even more isolation.

The Health Service often fails to realise the financial implications for both themselves and a family if a senior citizen is placed in a nursing home instead of remaining within a community. The voluntary work carried out by relatives is not often recognised by Government. There is also the additional worry of placing someone within a nursing home because of the financial impact it can have, with a number of families forced to sell their property to pay for such a service.

More than 8 million people across the UK provide unpaid care for elderly relatives, saving the state roughly £34bn a year on the cost of social services. This number of unpaid relatives looking after fellow family members is set to rise and the issue set to become more serious as the number of over 85’s increases in the next decade.

“The Ulster Unionist Party recognises the role of the 250,000 carers in Northern Ireland and believes that government for to long have undervalued the vital role played by carers. We propose that the Social Security Agency should devise and implement a strategy to increase entitlement take up amongst carers and recognise the true value of carer’s contribution to society.”

Basil McCrea MLA, UUP Spokesman on Education warned today of the impending disaster of a Classroom Assistants

strike, and calls on the Minister for Education, Caitriona Ruane to take control of the situation.

“I am deeply concerned that the Minister for Education has refused to intervene in Classroom Assistant dispute.

Within a week, this vulnerable group of people, many of whom are women, will be forced to take a decision on

strike action. This potential disaster could and should, be averted by swift Ministerial action.”

Many Classroom Assistants are owed substantial amounts of back pay, but under the new arrangements not only will

they see this back pay slashed, but they will be forced to work longer hours, for less money. The situation is

so unfair, and potentially so serious that it is impossible to understand why the Minister of Education considers

it inappropriate for her to intervene.

The Classroom Assistants, I have spoken to, are angry and disappointed that despite the warm words of supported

from the Minister and the unanimous support of the Assembly little has been done to resolve the situation.

They are reluctant to strike, they worry about the impact on their family finances and they are acutely aware of

the impact that their actions will have on the schools, the parents and most importantly the children, but they

feel so let down, so used and abused, that many feel that strike action is the only way to resolve a situation

that is clearly unfair.

Classroom assistants are being picked on by faceless bureaucrats in a penny pinching attempt to save money. The

Minister for Education must get involved, if this were a “Foot and Mouth Emergency” the department would be

meeting now in emergency session. What is the point of having locally elected Ministers if they do not intervene

in when disaster threatens?

The Minister for Education cannot stand idly by, whilst people who do so much for our children and our society

are forced in to a corner. It is not fair on the Classroom Assistants, it is not fair on the children and for a

politician that champions equality at every opportunity, it is high time she lived up to her rhetoric.”

UUP East Belfast Representative and Castlereagh Councillor Michael Copeland today backed calls for a special medal to be awarded to British troops fighting Taliban in Afghanistan and urged the Northern Ireland public to sign a petition on the downing street website.

The online petition posted on the number 10 website seeks to award soldiers with a special medal above the standard Operational Service Medal.

Mr Copeland said given the high number of soldiers from Northern Ireland who have and are serving in Afghanistan, a special medal was only fitting.

He said,

“I fully support efforts to petition the government for a special medal, above the Operational Service Medal, for our troops who have served, are serving, or whom are still to serve in Afghanistan.

I think the public are only too aware of the intensity of the conflict with the Taliban, where many British Troops lives have been lost and where some of the fighting is the most ferocious seen in decades.

Given the high numbers of troops from Northern Ireland who have served and are in Afghanistan, I would hope that the public here would join me in supporting the call for a special medal and will, like me, sign the petition.”

Responding to recently released Police figures that show South Belfast having almost double the number of sex offenders at 96 as its nearest district of North Belfast on 50, Ulster Unionist South Belfast MLA Michael McGimpsey said,

“These latest police figures are not a surprise following on as they do from last years Northerrn Ireland Sex Offender Strategic Management Committee annual report.

The figures are alarming however: our Constituency total was in most cases triple or quadruple the average for the rest of the country. Something has gone badly wrong.

There are already concerns over police manpower levels in the area. I think this underscores the importance of creating a dedicated City Centre District Command Unit so that South Belfast can have as many officers as possible dedicated to policing the community and reassuring residents that their concerns are absolutely paramount.

The authorities have a lot to answer for over the way in which they approached this issue. The people of South Belfast and other local communities have a right to full disclosure of who is living or being ‘rehabilitated’ on their own streets.”