To ask the Minister of Education (i) how much of his Department’s budget is spent on Shared Education; and (ii) how much of the budget spent on Shared Education is funded through external sources.

Funding allocated to Shared Education programmes in the 2023/24 financial year, including the source of the funding, is set out below.

Mainstreaming Shared Education - the Department of Education has provided £2m of resource funding from its core budget to support pupil engagement as part of the delivery of the Mainstreaming Shared Education Strategy.

Peace IV - a total budget of £7.262m was allocated to fund two Shared Education projects (now concluded). This comprised European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding of £6.173m (85%) alongside match funding of £1.089m (15%) from the Department of Education (Northern Ireland), funded through the Northern Ireland Executive.

Peace Plus - a total budget of £196k was allocated for two education related programmes including Shared Learning Together and Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing. This comprised ERDF funding of £157k (80%) and match funding of £39k (20%) funded through the Northern Ireland Executive. As relevant projects are not yet operational, no spend has been incurred in 2023/24.

Strule Shared Education Campus - £1.8m of capital funding, funded from Fresh Start Agreement capital funding provided by HM Treasury, and £75k of resource funding, funded from DE core budget, has been allocated to the Strule Shared Education Campus.

Shared Education Campus (SEC) Programme – As of 31 January 2024, the Department has spent £3.61m of capital funding on the SEC programme, funded from Fresh Start Agreement capital funding provided by HM Treasury. The Department has also allocated £435k of resource funding to the SEC programme, provided by The Executive Office to ensure that SEC projects are fully funded and supported from the onset of planning.