All of Mr Gordon Lyons’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
In the first instance, I would appreciate it if the Member were to provide me with any specific examples that she has of where those failings are taking place, because I would like to be in a position to investigate them. It should not be the case that the Housing Executive is investigating just to make sure that the…
Single lets are inspected at the point of acquisition by the Housing Executive, and accommodation providers are responsible for all aspects of the maintenance and repair of their properties.
Yes, absolutely. Some of the programmes that I have put in place have made a real change to people's lives. JobStart is one of the most successful tools in our armoury for tackling unemployment. It has a success rate of over 70% return on investment. That is phenomenal, not just from a financial viewpoint. Programmes…
I hope that, in the first place, the councils responded to the consultation to ensure that their views are known. Engagement will continue not only on the strategy but on all the other ways in which councils will help us deliver some of the other plans and strategies that we have in place. I have not yet received the…
I am aware of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's 'Poverty in Northern Ireland 2025' report, particularly the information in it regarding the high rate of relative poverty after housing costs and the difficulty with accessing jobs with remote and hybrid working in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area and…
Under the draft Budget, I am not in a position to fill those gaps. That is why, as part of the correspondence that I had with the Finance Minister, I raised the fact that the matter had been omitted from the draft Budget. We knew back then that there were concerns about the potential for there to be gaps in funding. I…
Like every other Member, I want to see a satisfactory resolution to the matter, and, through the Department of Finance, we continue to press that case. The Member is correct in saying that many of the programmes contribute to helping us tackle the wider problems in that area, which is why I want to see them continue.…
Members will be aware that the local growth fund is administered directly by the UK Government and that the Finance Minister leads on that programme on behalf of the Executive. Beyond the local growth fund, my Department continues to deliver a wide range of employability support to disabled people and people with…
My officials have engaged with the Department of Education to provide verification of UC award amounts for those who need to use that service. I am more than happy to explore what else we can do to make sure that that works more easily. When it comes to the wider issue of what could be included in an anti-poverty…
The policy and legislative responsibility for the free school meals scheme sits with the Department of Education. Free school meals are available to children in households claiming universal credit where household net earnings do not exceed £15,390 per year. My officials met their Department of Education colleagues,…
There are no plans to permanently close the Tollymore National Outdoor Centre. I fully recognise that Tollymore has facilities that are unique to Northern Ireland, and it is an important part of our outdoor activity offering. I am also aware that Sport NI has a duty to ensure value for money for the public purse and…
I am happy to do that. I hope that we will also hear directly from the Member during the consultation period, because it is a sincere attempt to hear from a wide range of stakeholders and make sure that we put something in place that works for the future.
Sport NI has appointed Fathom Consultancy Solutions, which is engaging with a range of stakeholders to take their views, including the national governing bodies of sport in the outdoor sector, partner organisations and commercial operators. The preferred options for a future operating model are expected to be…
I thank the Member for his support. It is important that we have the capital to build homes, but that is not the only thing that we can do. We have to be inventive and look at innovative ways to deliver our targets. That is why I took decisions to help the housing associations grant go further and why I am making…
That work continues. When I came into post, I said that that should be a priority for us and that we should get it done. I was able to secure cross-party, cross-Executive agreement on the need for it to move forward. Progress has been made — we should acknowledge that — but we have got to the point where the Treasury…
I do. I welcome the fact that the Committee has made that move and recognised the need for us to meet our target. To do that, we need to have the budget and make sure that it is properly earmarked for that. We made a commitment as an Executive on this issue. I came forward and said that social housing should be a…
The proposed funding for the SHDP is less than half of the total required. We are £128 million short. That means that, even if I devote all the capital proposed for my Department that is not earmarked, I cannot fund the Executive's commitment. In 2026-27, after I deal with my Department's inescapable commitments, I…
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will answer questions 2 and 3 together. In their Programme for Government, the Executive committed to a target of starting 5,850 social homes by the end of the mandate. By the end of the financial year, we will, at best, have started 3,250. That leaves around 2,600 social homes…
The reforms are intended to improve the service overall to make it more robust and ensure that practices are more efficient at getting support to children through improved enforcement and collection. The reforms are intended to increase compliance and therefore reduce child poverty. There will be better support for…
That is absolutely why the reforms are taking place and the review is being put in place alongside a wider programme of reform to Child Maintenance Service operations. That includes compliance to ensure that children receive the maintenance to which they are entitled. That includes a focus on updating the child…
My Department continues to work closely with DWP to progress reforms to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), with a particular focus on strengthening compliance and improving enforcement. Following a consultation, secondary legislation will be brought forward to introduce administrative liability orders, reducing…