Reassessment in progress: every record is being assessed again under the updated rubric. 1,649 of 97,616 records done (1.7%). Rankings are paused until it finishes, so results from the old and new rubrics are never mixed. Progress details
Mr Gordon Lyons: Assembly records
All of Mr Gordon Lyons’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not qualifying, uncertain or not yet analysed.
I am pleased to advise that progress continues to be made across the Bangor waterfront programme. My officials are working collaboratively with council partners to support the development and delivery of that programme. Work to establish the professional teams required for the delivery of the programme continues, with…
The Member is absolutely right to raise that issue. Many in our communities have been helped by the funding that was previously in place. There are many others who want to work but face barriers to work that must be broken down. We believe that we can get an extra 50,000 disabled people into work. As I always say, we…
Our focus remains on working with the Government to make sure that there is a Budget. It is absolutely the case that we are suffering because a Budget has not been agreed; I agree with the Member on that. The situation would be even worse if we were to agree to a Budget that clearly did not meet the needs of people in…
Absolutely. That will form part of the ongoing work as we design the scheme. As I said, the Department of Finance is leading on that. We will hear from the voluntary and community sector, and I encourage any organisations in the Member's constituency to get in contact and be part of the process so that we can ensure…
I am grateful to the Member for that question. The Department of Finance is leading on a cross-Executive design process. Evidence from the voluntary and community sector will inform that work. I want future arrangements to recognise the important contribution that is made by the voluntary and community sector. The…
I recognise the serious impact that reduced resource funding is having on voluntary and community organisations, their staff and the people whom they support. The Shared Prosperity Fund ended on 31 March 2026, and the local growth fund has different objectives and a substantially different balance between capital and…
I am grateful to the Member for raising that issue. One of the greatest pressures on household budgets is the cost of heating our homes. That is why all of the issues are being looked at in that way. I am not saying that we should cut back on our standards in any way, and I make that very, very clear. These are issues…
No, none of it materialised. In fact, not only have we delivered more social homes and record levels of investment, but I have paved a way to make it even easier to build them. I hope that Members will reflect on that, show more confidence in our housing partners and make sure that they know what they are talking…
I am happy to get that information for the Member. However, the reviews took effect last year, and, last year, we had a 17% increase in the number of social homes that we were able to build. That is what I am about. That is what I want to see: more homes being built. That is what I will continue to push for.
Fundamental system reviews of grant funding and the design standards for new-build social housing are ongoing. They offer an opportunity to look at the social housing development programme afresh and identify opportunities to be innovative and creative. We need to do more with less, collectively working to address the…
Yes. I say clearly to the Member that the First Minister has not allowed a paper on to the Executive agenda that would have prioritised homelessness prevention. How often in this place do we talk about the need to prevent homelessness? Mr Gildernew has just asked me about the cost of temporary accommodation. It is out…
It is a distraction by the First Minister; the Member is absolutely right. The First Minister is not funding homelessness prevention. I put the paper in front of the Executive, and they refused to address it. I am grateful for the Member's support, and I hope that he will be able to lobby the First Minister on that.
Yes, that is the case. As I have said, I have sought agreement from the Executive to ensure that homelessness is properly provided for. We all know that there is uncertainty around our Budget for this year and future years. I have placed a priority on prevention. I wanted to make sure that that money is in place and…
In the past year, on the figures that we have available, the cost has been in the region of £40 million, but I will confirm that for the Member as soon as I can.
The Housing Executive has advised that the net temporary accommodation expenditure from 1 June 2022 to 31 August 2026 was approximately £139·8 million. That reflects the cost incurred in providing temporary accommodation and the recoverable income through housing benefit and personal contributions.
Absolutely. I worked on the issue with the previous Minister of Health, and I look forward to doing the same with his successor. I recognise and understand the issues that the Member has raised; in fact, we wrote to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to request engagement on the Northern Ireland…
The Member is absolutely right. That is not a trivial matter. Breaking the law is not a trivial matter. The First Minister and other Ministers in this place have broken the law, and they need to be held to account for that. Let me be clear that, when it comes to the law and the legislation that we pass in this place,…
We will certainly not be starting from scratch, and I think that the Member has acknowledged that it would be impossible for us to get such legislation through in this mandate. It will probably be one of the largest pieces of legislation, if not the largest, that we will ever take through the House. I assure the…
I concluded some time ago that it would not be possible in the current mandate to introduce a Bill of the scale and complexity necessary to achieve the comprehensive reform of gambling legislation that is required. Gambling is a complex and rapidly evolving area. The pace of technological change, particularly in…
The small pockets of deprivation programme is particularly important to the Member's constituency. He will be aware that it is delivered under People and Place and administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE). In the meantime, the grant will be paid quarterly in advance, consistent with arrangements…
I continue to see at first hand the excellent work delivered by community-sector partners through the neighbourhood renewal programme. In the past year, I have committed more than £21 million to the programme, and that is making a tangible difference to people living in our most deprived communities. That funding has…
I have not had any direct conversations with the Minister for the Economy about that. However, she will be aware that a public consultation to explore how the liquor licensing regime can better support innovation and market diversity concluded on 23 June. That consultation is being analysed by officials, with plans to…
Yes, and that goes to the heart of why the actions of the First Minister and other Ministers are so serious. Lawmakers cannot be lawbreakers, and those who do that must be held to account.