EA publishes correspondence with Unite

19 November 2025

VIA EMAIL

Kieran Ellison UNITE the Union

Dear Kieran

I need to underline my serious concerns at the inaccurate information your union has placed into the public domain in relation to safeguarding checks for education staff.

I am again asking that you take steps to correct the record, in the interests of accuracy and transparency.

The key facts are as follows:

On 17/11/2025, Unite issued a press release claiming that 353 staff positions at NI special schools had been filled without Access NI checks in place. This was inaccurate. The 353 figure actually related to temporary positions across the entire education system. This was clear from the FOI release that had formed the basis of the Unite press release. Your union’s basic misunderstanding/misrepresentation of the statistic remains unexplained.

To compound this error, Unite then compared the overall system wide figure to an earlier figure, from January, which related only to special schools. On that basis, it falsely claimed a 200% increase.

On 18/11/2025, Unite altered the wording of the press release on its website to remove the false claims, after a rebuttal had been issued by EA. No footnote or other clarification was provided online for this amendment. I am also unaware of any attempt by your union to set the record straight through social media posts or a follow-up press release.

On 18/11/2025, you issued a further statement to the media in which you said: “Unite separately wrote to all 39 SEN schools to ask them to the same questions for the reference period – we are currently collating those responses. The attached – from only two SEN schools of 39 – indicates that at least 47 school support staff were in place without Access NI checks being in place - that is a figure three times higher than the figure being quoted by the EA for the entirety of Northern Ireland.”

Again, this is inaccurate.

The figure quoted by EA related to temporary classroom assistants in special schools on a single day (18/11/2025). By contrast, the totals you are quoting covered the period 01/07/2025 to 29/09/2025. That is clear from the FOIs from schools which you have helpfully shared. So, once again, you are not comparing like with like, which is, at best, disingenuous.

As you are aware, the totals for people employed through a temporary engagement form will constantly change as per the particular needs of schools. As you are also aware, the alternative to not processing temporary engagement forms in emergency situations, is that children will not be able to attend school.

This is why the relevant safeguarding Circular, which has been drafted by safeguarding practitioners, allows for staff to be engaged and their access checks to be started on day one, with strict risk assessments put in place and supervision until their check is complete. The average turnaround time for an Access NI check is five days.

I would be grateful if Unite could belatedly correct its mistakes publicly.

Finally, please be advised that the Education Authority will be publishing this letter on its website, as part of its contribution to setting the record straight.

Yours sincerely

Matthew McDermott Assistant Director HR Services and Industrial Relations