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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.
Yes. In November 2023, my Department issued a neighbourhood renewal grant funding agreement to provide salary and programme costs to enable Belfast City Council to engage a community development worker to support the group for the period from November 2023 to March 2025. Funding of £12,007·09 was awarded for the…
The Member frequently raises the Westland estate with me. I will have to visit sometime, because I have heard so much about it from him. I understand that the proposal to build a new community facility to serve the Westland estate is being managed by the Executive Office through its Urban Villages programme. My…
We are in the early stages of the redevelopment of the scheme. A lot of different factors and elements have to be considered, as well as the issue that the Member has raised about eligibility. I absolutely agree with him, however, that some of the most hard-pressed people in our communities are working families — the…
In September 2023, the closure of the boiler replacement scheme was announced owing to budgetary constraints. In the previous two years, the scheme had seen a significant decrease in enquiries and applications received. The decision was made to consolidate and protect the affordable warmth scheme, which was kept open.…
My approach has been largely to leave it in the hands of councils. There will need to be changes to their standing orders. I have my views on how and when a member should be allowed to attend remotely, but, ultimately, that should be a decision for the councils.
Yes. I believe that we are adhering to our statutory responsibilities. We can, however, always do more than simply follow the law. We can go over and above what is required, and that is why I am always more than happy to work with my ministerial counterpart in DAERA to put in place schemes to support regeneration in…
While my Department is responsible for urban regeneration, I understand the issues faced by our rural communities. I come from a rural community, and I represent one. My predecessor, Paul Givan, when he was Communities Minister, indicated that he wanted to extend the Department's scheme to regenerate public spaces to…
As I have already said, that depends on funding from the UK Government. On the Strule education campus, my understanding is that the Minister went to the Executive and received the funding that was needed to begin that project. We do not have the funding clarity that we need.
I thank the Member. As I said, I am committed to reducing the number and duration of temporary promotion arrangements. My officials are engaged with NICS HR to progress recruitment competitions that will fill more posts substantively and to improve and speed up recruitment processes through the NICS people plan.
Clearly, we are not happy with that. Work is ongoing; in fact, there has been some movement on it in recent weeks. I raised the issue with the permanent secretary last week, as the Member will have done. The level of temporary promotions in DFC is in line with that in other departments across the Northern Ireland…
The joint consultation was launched in November and ran until March. A further extension was granted until 5 April. I will be briefed on the responses to the consultation and on next steps in due course. I will be happy to keep the House informed.
I am grateful to the Member for her question and for raising the issue. As I said to Michelle McIlveen a few moments ago, that is a real issue. Problem tenants do not just cause problems for themselves or their immediate neighbours; sometimes, they cause problems for quite a number of people throughout the area in…
The Housing Executive has a range of powers at its disposal for dealing with antisocial behaviour issues. My Department keeps those powers under review to ensure that they are working effectively. To that end, as part of a joint public consultation with the Department of Justice, my Department recently published…
Absolutely. My officials regularly engage with their counterparts in other Departments and with those in the Department for Infrastructure in particular. I will bring a housing supply strategy to the Executive soon, because I recognise that this is not an issue for just one Department to tackle. We need cross-party,…
I am grateful to the Member for raising that with me yet again. He has been consistent in his desire to see those homes remain. It is important that we look at the cost of the renovations that may need to take place, but we also need to make sure that there are homes that can be lived in. We also have to take into…
The process that I just outlined will, inevitably, add delays and costs to the planning approvals process for new social housing developments. I am open to all ideas about how we can progress this, but, ultimately, we need to deal with it at the root cause, which is making sure that we have the necessary waste water…
The impact of capacity restrictions on water and sewerage infrastructure on residential development is significant. It is highlighted regularly in discussions between my Department and stakeholders regarding social housing delivery. I will mention the social housing development programme. In the event of a confirmed…
The Member is absolutely right to highlight the renewable energy solutions that can be deployed to make sure that we have more energy-efficient homes. If a home has a roof, which all should, that provides great opportunity for householders to generate some of their own energy through the installation of solar panels.…
Unfortunately, that is not limited to any one area. All of us will have had constituents come to us highlighting the issues with some of the housing stock that we have in Northern Ireland. That is why it is essential that we invest more. That may require a change to how the Housing Executive in particular operates. I…
I do not have the specific figure with me, but, for the overall budget that is required to bring our homes up to standard, including the energy efficiency measures and the schemes that will need to take place to help us reach net zero, we are talking in the billions of pounds.
Some of the work that I have just outlined will significantly contribute to our net zero targets, because we understand how much residential buildings are contributing to meeting those targets. For me, it is even more important to make sure that people have a warm home to live in. We know the health impacts that that…
I am committed to ensuring that social housing tenants are not left behind on the pathway to net zero by 2050. My Department has developed a housing supply strategy, which acknowledges the importance of ensuring that we have good quality homes. One of the proposed long-term commitments of the strategy is to ensure…