Assembly Roundup: April 2015

Ex-prisoners: Accommodation costs

To ask the Minister for Social Development, if a person is released on probation to a hostel or similar accommodation, having been remanded in custody, whether they are responsible for payment of their accommodation or is this met in part or full by any agency within his Department; and if so, which agency. AQW 44262/11-15 Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley, DUP

If someone is required by a court to reside in a hostel then Housing Benefit cannot be paid on that accommodation. If the accommodation fits the definition of a hostel the critical factor is whether occupation is a requirement of the court. If an individual is placed in a hostel by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland on its own initiative, without reference to a court, then Housing Benefit is payable by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on that accommodation, subject to the Housing Benefit rules concerning income, capital and eligibility. However if it is a requirement of the court then Housing Benefit cannot be paid by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive nor any agency of this Department

To ask the Minister for Social Development, if a person is released on bail to a hostel or similar accommodation, having been remanded in custody, whether they are responsible for payment of their accommodation or is this met in part or full by any agency within his Department; and if so, which agency. AQW 44166/11-15 Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley, DUP

If someone is required by a court as part of their bail conditions to reside in a hostel then Housing Benefit cannot be paid for that accommodation.
If the accommodation fits the definition of a hostel and a person is required as a condition of bail to reside there, housing benefit cannot be paid by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive nor can accommodation be paid for by any other agency of this department.

New Social Housing: disability access

To ask the Minister for Social Development what is being done to ensure all new build social housing has access for people with a disability. AQW 44133/11-15 Steven Agnew, Green Party

All new build social housing must comply with the relevant requirements of The Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (as amended). Building Regulations 91, Part R set out the specific regulations in terms of access and use of buildings. In addition all new build social housing is required to meet the standards of the Lifetime Homes guide in order to receive grant funding. The design of Lifetime Homes removes the barriers of accessibility often present in other dwellings. The flexibility and adaptability within the design and structure enables new social homes to meet a diverse range of needs over time, which includes the approach to the house, entrances and circulation and accessibility within the house, for all visitor and tenant including those with a disability.

Northern Ireland Housing Executive: stock transfer

To ask the Minister for Social Development for an update on the possibility of a stock transfer programme of Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties, including the (a) timescale; (b) proposed numbers of properties; and (c) geographical spread. AQW 44129/11-15 John McCallister, Independent

Following the approval of the review of stock transfer in 2014, by the NIHE Board and Minister, the Housing Executive is currently preparing a new transfer programme. The Housing Executive has undertaken to transfer 2000 properties in this programme.

The transfer process for the first tranche has been initiated, and the Housing Executive will appoint housing associations to work with it and the tenants during 2015/2016 to develop the transfer proposals.

The estates that will make up the programme will be identified as part of the Housing Executive’s new Asset Management Strategy that is currently being developed through the Department for Social Development / Housing Executive’s Asset Management Commission being undertaken with Savills PLC.

It is therefore not possible at this stage to comment on the geographical spread of properties that will be in the full programme. Estates will be identified on the basis of need. The estates will be identified and the complete programme confirmed by early this summer.

The new approach will commence in 2015/16.

Affordable Warmth: Warm Homes Scheme update

To ask the Minister for Social Development for an update on the Warm Homes Scheme. AQW 43967/11-15 Patsy McGlone, SDLP

The Warm Homes Scheme has been my Department’s main tool in tackling fuel poverty across Northern Ireland. Since its inception in 2001 over 127,000 households have had energy efficiency improvement measures installed. The Warm Homes Scheme relies on self-referrals and has been a popular and successful scheme. The current Warm Homes Scheme contract was due to end in July 2014 and was extended to 31 March 2015 to allow for the new Affordable Warmth Scheme to become established and embedded in the new council structures. The Affordable Warmth Scheme is a new area based approach to tackling fuel poverty in Northern Ireland. It is a targeted approach which will find and assist those households in severe or extreme fuel poverty using a targeting tool that has been developed by the University of Ulster and successfully tested in two pilots. Even with the level of homes that have been helped already by Warm Homes, research carried out by University of Ulster highlighted that over 33,000 households in Northern Ireland are in severe or extreme fuel poverty, that is, they need to spend more than a quarter of their household income on energy costs. These are the households which the Affordable Warmth Scheme will find and help as a priority. All of the energy efficiency measures available under the Warm Homes Scheme will be retained under the Affordable Warmth Scheme, with some additional new measures added. A package of energy efficiency and heating measures will be offered to each household.

Tackling Homelessness

To ask the Minister for Social Development what efforts are being made to tackle homelessness. AQO 7466/11-15 Stephen Moutray, DUP

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has a statutory responsibility for the assessment of homelessness and the delivery of homelessness services. The Housing Executive has adopted a strategic approach to tackling homelessness as outlined in The Homelessness Strategy 2012 -17. The strategy is wide ranging and cannot be delivered in isolation.

The Housing Executive therefore works in partnership with a range of agencies in the statutory, voluntary and community sectors to deliver its vision of long term homelessness and rough sleeping being eliminated across Northern Ireland by 2020. The strategy has a clear focus on the prevention of homelessness seeing this as key to its delivery.

On any given night it is likely that there will be around 10 people sleeping rough in Belfast and a similar number across Northern Ireland. Nobody in Belfast is forced to sleep rough due to the provision of the outreach service operated by the Welcome Organisation in conjunction with the crash facility provided by the Salvation Army.

Legislative plans

To ask the Minister for Social Development what legislation his Department plans to bring forward by March 2016. AQW 44360/11-15 Peter Weir, DUP

My Department plans to bring forward legislation covering a range of areas including social policy, housing and social security. The Member will also be aware that my Department currently has three Bills, namely Welfare Reform, Regeneration and Pensions which are at various stages of the legislative process within the Assembly.