Debate contribution: Cost-of-living Increase: Impact

Debate contribution by Mr Brian Kingston on 17 November 2025.

MLA

Mr Brian Kingston

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

17 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Cost-of-living Increase: Impact

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5245833

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The Democratic Unionist Party is dedicated to providing opportunity and support for all families across Northern Ireland, many of whom are feeling the squeeze on their finances. It was the DUP Minister for Communities, Gordon Lyons, who led engagement with other Departments and Ministers to create and publish a draft anti-poverty strategy for Northern Ireland this year, some 19 years after the previous anti-poverty strategy was published in 2006. The new strategy sets out a long-term approach to addressing poverty by minimising risks and impacts and helping people to exit poverty. On 5 December last year, Minister Lyons took the decision to announce that all existing welfare mitigations would be extended to March 2028. That should help to give stability to families. For all the proposals to address poverty, these are the critical questions: how will they be funded, and what is the evidence that they will make a real difference? The answers to those two questions are often lacking. The DUP is committed to ending the two-child limit on universal credit payments, and we will strongly support such a move if it is announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in her Budget speech next week. Indeed, I joined a number of charities and other MLAs for a campaign photo at the front of Stormont in support of such a move. We placed our hands on a sign to make handprints, and I still have the paint under my nails to show for it, as others may also do. Creating opportunities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, be it through greater educational attainment, training or employment, is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty and dependency for many. Minister Lyons announced a new strategy that aims to provide more for disabled people to help them to get better jobs and reduce the disability pay gap. The local growth fund is being created by the Labour Government to replace the Shared Prosperity Fund, which replaced the European social fund. However, many voluntary sector groups, which do tremendous front-line work to assist people who are considered to be economically inactive into employment and vocational training, have no certainty about their funding beyond the end of this financial year. The UK Government have a responsibility to provide clarity on the future of the local growth fund without delay. Over the course of the past three years, the DUP has repeatedly sought clarity on when the funding will be available, how it will be administered and the degree of input that local Ministers will be afforded, but the responses have been lacking in information.

I turn to the Ulster Unionist Party's amendment. The Education Minister has made it clear that Education has been and remains significantly underfunded. Currently, the EA faces an overcommitment of £280 million. As a result, the EA board, on which all parties sit, has had to make difficult decisions. In its statement, the Education Authority said that the price charged for school meals had not increased since 2017-18, as has been acknowledged, and will remain well below the cost of producing the meal. The amendment calls on the Education Minister:

"to increase the eligibility threshold for free school meals",

something that he has already done. In July, the Education Minister announced an increase in the income threshold for free school meals and the school uniform grant, committing to link future increases to the rate of consumer price inflation. That support will keep pace with the cost of living.

Yes, I will.

No, I do not have that information to hand, but I will get it for the Member. The UUP calls for a coordinated approach between the Minister of Education and the Minister for Communities. All Ministers should work in a coordinated way to support low-income families, whether that be the Education Minister supporting educational attainment, the Health Minister addressing health inequalities or the Economy Minister supporting skills growth and good employment opportunities. The anti-poverty strategy is a full-Executive strategy, with responsibilities for all Ministers.

665 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:58 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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