To ask the Minister of Education how her Department will ensure that any voluntary sector partners that are recruited as part of the implementation of Fair Start recommendations will be resourced adequately.

Key Area 4 of the "A Fair Start" report relates to "Promoting a whole community approach to education". Action (iii) within Key Area 4 states "DE should co-design a specification for a whole community, partnership approach entitled the “Reducing Educational Disadvantage” (RED) programme. This should be strategic in scale and collaborative in nature, mandating co-design and the building of authentic partnerships between schools and communities using a place-based approach".

Work on the RED Programme is at an early stage of development and involves numerous stakeholders and partners from the public and voluntary and community sectors. Currently emphasis is on developing those partnerships and relationships to enable place based approaches to be developed depending upon the needs of the children and young people, families and communities in the area. We are also working with other Departments to explore the possibility of greater collaboration in areas of specific need. The resources available for this action and the "A Fair Start" report as a whole is dependent upon budget settlements going forward.