Debate contribution: Homelessness Awareness Week 2024

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 2 December 2024.

MLA

Mr Gordon Lyons

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

2 December 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Homelessness Awareness Week 2024

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4686942

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you very much, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I thank the Members who tabled the motion for debate in the House. I also thank all those who took part in the debate, and I agree with much that was said. The motion is timely, and I look forward to making a number of announcements during my remarks that show my commitment to dealing with the issue. I thank Homeless Connect and the other organisations across the sector for the work that they do each and every day to support some of the most needy in our society. The events that take place during Homelessness Awareness Week play a vital role in highlighting the reality of homelessness in Northern Ireland. Only through education, outreach and meaningful collaboration across Departments will we be able to recognise properly the challenges and, importantly, to start to address the stigma that is associated with homelessness. As we are all aware, the theme for this year's Homelessness Awareness Week is "Time for Change". I could not agree more with that sentiment. I have said before that we must be radical in our approach to homelessness. We need to seek innovative solutions to problems, and we need to think of different ways in which to respond to need. I believe that everyone needs to have a secure and safe place to call home and that that is the foundation of everything else. I assure Members of my personal commitment to making real and tangible progress. As we are all too aware, the reasons for homelessness are varied and complex. Societal issues such as poverty, life experiences, mental or physical health issues and substance misuse can all put people under strain and lead to a breakdown in relationships or to a house no longer being suitable for them. What is clear, however, is that being homeless makes each of those issues harder to solve and that homelessness is often not just a housing issue. The Housing Executive has statutory responsibility to respond to homelessness and for the delivery of the homelessness strategy for 2022-27, 'Ending Homelessness Together'. Addressing the issues that contribute to homelessness is equally as important, however, and, as I said, doing that will take a collective, whole-of-government and joined-up approach. I have repeatedly stated my ambition that homelessness should be rare, brief and nonrecurring. That will happen only with increased support and engagement from other Departments, particularly the Department of Health and the Department of Justice. The Complex Lives programme is an example of what can be achieved when we work together. Facilitated by Belfast City Council and led by a multidisciplinary team, that model takes a person-centred approach and addresses the main issue first. For example, if an addiction issue is at the root of homelessness, services will work together to address that issue first. Ultimately, homeless people who live with mental health and addiction issues will be supported to maintain tenancies. While the trauma that homelessness causes an individual is significant, it also ripples across our society. For example, the lack of adequate housing support to prevent homelessness means that we are left with no option but to place people in expensive and, all too often, unsuitable temporary accommodation. The increasing cost associated with providing temporary accommodation is preventing the strategic shift to an investment in prevention activity. I have seen first-hand the positive impact that good housing has on the lives and well-being of individuals and families. A good home is the foundation for everything else. A secure home improves educational achievement, health and job prospects. That is why I intend to bring the housing supply strategy to the Executive in the coming days. The new strategy will provide a long-term framework for the actions required to increase supply and address the main barriers to progress. It recognises that transforming the housing supply will require not only a collective response from the Executive but a real collaboration that includes local government, community groups, the construction industry and financial bodies, and I will have a major announcement to make alongside that in the coming weeks. Increasing the range of affordable housing options is key to preventing homelessness, and I have already taken steps towards that goal. In May 2024, I launched a competition to find an operator to provide 300 intermediate rent homes in Northern Ireland, facilitating a new supply of quality, more affordable housing for lower-income households. I look forward to announcing the outcome in the new year, and I will make every effort to get that started as soon as possible. As I said, households have been trapped in the homelessness system for far too long. It is no secret that the budget that my Department and others received this year fell well short of what is required and placed significant constraints on our services. Despite that, I committed to holding homelessness funding at the 2023-24 final budget position. I also provided an additional £4·8 million — a 6·4% increase in funding above the 2023-24 final equality impact assessment (EQIA) budget position — for the Supporting People programme position to help to ensure the continued viability of the programme and provide a budget of £80·7 million for this year. It should be acknowledged that such a level of investment in the Supporting People programme not only helps vulnerable individuals to maintain their tenancies but helps to prevent additional demands on budgets elsewhere, especially in the Departments of Health and Justice. I recognise that there is more for us to do. Today, I am delighted to make three significant announcements that will help us to finally make some of those fundamental changes and lay the foundations for that important work. First, following the October monitoring round, I am providing an additional £6·7 million for the Housing Executive to prevent the risk of homelessness service closures and ensure that its statutory obligations can continue to be met. Secondly, many of our homelessness service providers have been operating on a month-to-month funding model, which has created too much uncertainty for that critical work. That changes now. Today, I can announce that the funding will be confirmed until the end of the year. Finally, I am also pleased to announce that, for the financial year 2025-26 and moving forward, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, for the first time ever, will have its own specific funding allocation for homelessness prevention. The voluntary and community sector deserves that clarity, and I am sure that Members will welcome this positive step in the right direction. We have to make the strategic shift to the prevention of homelessness. I have said that for some time. It remains my ambition, and the proposals that I have outlined today show my commitment to that shift.

Our short-term focus must continue to be on supporting those who are in crisis. I have met many of them, and I know for a fact that our voluntary and community organisations across the homelessness sector make an invaluable and sometimes life-saving contribution to the lives of people across Northern Ireland. I assure them that their work does not go unnoticed, even if it is not always publicly acknowledged. I share their sense of wanting to make things better, and that is what I am determined to do. I am encouraged by the positive contributions that have been shared today, and I believe that they demonstrate that we all have a common purpose. Therefore, I am pleased to support the motion, and I look forward to working with my Executive colleagues and our sectoral partners in a coordinated and effective way, because this matter affects people. It affects their lives and their futures, and it affects Northern Ireland as a whole. That is why we need coordinated action and why I have made the announcements that I have made today. However, I recognise that that is only the start. There is more to do, and I am determined to get on with it.

1,327 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:37 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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