Inspire Public Affairs Update 19/01/26

Inspire’s public affairs update is your source for the latest Northern Ireland Assembly discussions relevant to mental health, addiction, intellectual disability and autism. 

Our aim is to inform the public, our colleagues and the people who use Inspire services about pertinent issues in the political space, issues that should always be informed by the voice of lived experience. 

On 13th January, the Minister of Health, Mike Nesbitt, answered a ministerial question on the neighbourhood model of care.

• The question was tabled by Kellie Armstrong MLA. 
• The Minister reaffirmed his commitment to a neighbourhood model of care designed to bring services closer to people, especially under‑served communities.
• The model, he said, will rely on 17 integrated neighbourhood teams bringing together GPs, pharmacies, trusts, voluntary organisations and independent providers to deliver joined‑up, community‑based care.
• Each team will cover around 115,000 people and work with smaller local neighbourhoods to tailor services to community needs.
• Starting in April 2026, implementation will happen in phases: a design phase, a build phase and a delivery phase.
• According to the Minister, patients and communities must be involved, including rural communities and marginalised groups.
• He emphasised that the model will use knowledge gained from the ‘Live Better’ initiative, where different communities expressed different priorities.
• A number of MLAs raised concerns about insufficient core funding for various partners essential to the model.
• The Minister stated: “The core funding budget is not satisfactory for anybody, including me and the Department.”
• He confirmed that rollout will be a long‑term exercise (five to 10 years) and dependent on proving early success in selected areas.

On 15th January, officials from the Department of Health, including the Permanent Secretary, Mike Farrar, briefed the Public Accounts Committee on the future of mental health services in Northern Ireland. 

• Mike Farrar stated that the Mental Health Strategy was produced when 52% of the budget was spent on health and it seemed appropriate, at that time, to commit £1.2bn to it.
• However, he said that it is not now reasonable to expect Northern Ireland to spend higher and higher proportions of its overall budget on health, particularly when mental health determinants rest in other areas (education, justice, economy etc.).
• He confirmed that the cross-cutting nature of mental health is central to the Department of Health’s health and social care reset plan.
• With respect to last year’s review of the Strategy, which pared down its objectives, he suggested that the priorities identified in that document represent a vehicle of delivery for delivery.
• The reset plan is is a “holistic” one, he said, comprising a focus on social health, mental health and physical health.
• He informed MLAs that the Department is exploring every opportunity for additional resource.
• Daniel McCrossan MLA, the Committee Chair, asked if the Strategy was ever really deliverable. He suggested that it was more a “wish list” than a strategy. He said that Executive departments have a habit of creating high expectations with new strategies and plans, only to disappoint.
• Mike said that the aspirations were right and deliverable in theory and that there had been a good-faith expectation of requisite funding. However, the Department is concerned with practicalities and determined to be clear about what is and isn’t possible.
• He said that, moving forward, mental health remains a departmental priority and that the current direction of travel will help with a diverse range of outcomes, including social cohesion, educational attainment and recidivism. It will also help tackle violence against women and girls.
• He said that Northern Ireland could have a “world-leading health system”.

Week commencing 19th December

Debate: Unaffordable Housing Costs – 19th January

All-Party Group on Suicide Prevention – 20th January

Committee for Communities: Ministerial briefing – 22nd January

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