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.
I point to Your School Your Club, on which I have worked closely with Paul Givan in the Department of Education to improve access to facilities. You can look at the Northern Ireland Football Fund and how that is being progressed and at the work that we are doing through Sport NI to help with the provision of…
We have one. It is called the housing supply strategy. We have a very clear plan, and we can see already the difference that is being made. I look forward to sharing with the Member some of the latest statistics on housing in Northern Ireland. He will see how we, in my Department, have been able to deliver not just on…
The Member will be aware that I published the housing supply strategy. Part of that will deal with the issue of empty homes. I raised the issue very early on in my tenure in this place. We obviously need to build new homes, but there are other homes out there that are not being used. We will explore all options to see…
The figures that the Member has given are stark. We are keeping an eye on the matter. The managed migration of claimants to universal credit through Move to UC has, as expected, led to an increase in claims. However, from what we see so far, that has increased in line with forecast demand.
I saw those figures recently. I do not have them with me but I can certainly provide them to the Member. I have to say that it is a significant amount. Do not get me wrong: I am a fan of Belfast, but I want to see other areas getting money as well. That is why I am looking for additional resource in that area. I am…
Yes, that is absolutely the case. Again, I am happy to tell the Member that part of the extra allocation that we made through the musical instruments for bands scheme went to her constituency. In the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, we were able to allocate over £110,000 of funding to bands, professional…
Regional balance is very important when it comes to the arts. That is why I have been so keen on the musical instruments for bands scheme: that funding has gone to communities across Northern Ireland; it has not been limited to particular geographical areas. I look forward to working with the Arts Council to ensure…
I have used the monitoring process over my time in office to make sure that additional funding is made available to the Arts Council. I did that for resource and capital this year, and we can see the results of that. I am always keen to ask for more in the monitoring rounds and to make sure that we have the resources…
As the principal funding and development body for the arts in Northern Ireland, the Arts Council is tasked with distributing funding on behalf of my Department. It is also a distributing body for National Lottery moneys. It is my assessment that, despite the constrained position in the current financial year, the Arts…
I want to make sure that as many people as possible are involved and take part in the arts and have the financial support to do so. I think that groups such as the one that the Member mentioned will have been eligible under the professional or non-professional group element. If that is not the case, I will certainly…
I am grateful to the Member for his comments. I want to make sure that we can continue with the funding of the programme for the simple reason that I want to ensure that more people in Northern Ireland get involved and stay involved in the arts and benefit from them. That is because the arts can provide a huge benefit…
The musical instruments programme is a capital investment programme delivered by the Arts Council on behalf of my Department. It is designed to increase the quality of music making in Northern Ireland by helping musicians to replace older, worn-out instruments and purchase new and additional ones. The programme has…
It is certainly something that we are happy to raise directly with the Department for Work and Pensions. The Member will be aware that any way in which we deviate from the rules that currently exist comes with administrative and other costs for the Department that can be very hard for us to bear. Certainly, we will…
Help is available from my Department. I have already raised the issue of the adviser discretion fund and the money that is available there to help those who are unemployed or self-employed. I am happy to share the details directly with the Member. Again, we are largely constrained by the rules that have been set down…
I thank the Member for raising that issue with me as well. She will be aware of the cross-nation approach that is taken with regard to benefits and welfare. However, I want to make sure that we are as helpful as possible, and senior officials have met representatives from the Ulster Farmers' Union and Rural Support to…
I am aware of the issue because I have had correspondence from the Member, and from Mrs Erskine as well. I assume that there are many people in Fermanagh and South Tyrone who have been affected. The Member will be aware that this is a result of policy change in the Department for Work and Pensions. In many ways, our…
Universal credit (UC) can support claimants in self-employment when that is their best route to financial independence. The minimum income floor is broadly a notional amount of earned income that is used to calculate a person’s UC award. It applies to those in gainful self-employment whose business has been running…
I do not agree with the Member that the issue of poverty is not found in the draft Programme for Government. You need only look at a number of the actions that the Executive have put forward, which will have a real and meaningful impact on tackling poverty, whether that is creating more jobs, improving our education…
The co-design group had a very important role to play as the strategy was developed and, certainly, before I came into office. I look forward to consulting it throughout the process. However, for me, what is important is making sure that we finalise the draft strategy, get it to the Executive, get it out for…
Absolutely. I agree, and you have only to look at the policies of the Labour Government to realise that they will do nothing to help with poverty. We have policies that damage growth, and that means less money for public services. We have policies that are driving up inflation and costs, which will make it more likely…
It is my hope to get the strategy out as soon as possible, and that is what I am trying to do. For me, however, the most important thing is that we can get buy-in and that we have all Departments signed up to it, with actions that we can progress. I want to have it passed by the Executive and out for consultation by…
My officials and I have been working with other Departments in the past months to make sure that we do not fall into that situation again. That is why we have taken our time to make sure that we get the strategy right, that we have deliverable actions and, most important, that those actions make a real difference to…
My officials are continuing their work on the development of the Executive's anti-poverty strategy, which will aim to minimise the risks and impact of poverty, including child poverty. My Department is engaging with officials from all Departments to discuss the development of the strategy, and I am encouraged by the…
I have said on a number of occasions that an agreement was made in 2011.That agreement was made on the basis of fairness and of all the sports that had identified their needs getting a share of the money. Windsor Park has received the money that it was promised, as has Ravenhill. I look forward to distributing the…