Simon Hamilton
Strangford · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I have emphasised to the Member and the House before, that, whilst I accept that those are not good enough — that is why we have been developing the plan — there are alternative technologies in place that can present opportunities for those who just cannot get acceptable speeds.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. There are some initiatives that I believe will help and act as a driver to improve broadband access. One such intervention is the broadband universal service obligation (USO), which is being taken forward by Her Majesty's Government.”
“I thank the Member for his question. However, he is conflating two issues. I wrote to his party leader, and indeed to all Assembly party leaders, before making the announcement that I did last week about wanting to publish the details of the businesses in receipt of the non-domestic RHI scheme. It was my intention to do that tomorrow.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Chancellor, in his autumn statement, made some more funding available for telecommunications, and my Department is studying that and seeking to avail itself of that to the fullest possible extent.”
“In addition, my Department is managing a contract for the delivery of the superfast rollout programme, which, by 31 December, will provide access to superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24 megabits per second to a further 38,000 premises, both business and residential, across Northern Ireland, including in the Newry and Armagh cons…”
“I signalled the intention to do this a few weeks ago. The Member and the House will know that inspections of all installations would have taken place over the 20-year lifetime of the RHI scheme.”
The complete record
Every one of 3,625 lines we hold for Simon Hamilton, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 37 of 73.
“Salaries of the staff in the Northern Ireland Housing Executive are in line with the terms and conditions of the National Joint Council salaries scheme used by local authorities.”
“Obviously, as you would expect, the Minister will take appropriate actions on the basis of the conclusions that are brought forward, notwithstanding the fact that there is a need for this type of accommodation in the Ballymena area, just as there is in other parts of Northern Ireland.”
“The Member is right: these are incredibly serious allegations, and they are being properly investigated, just as the original allegations were investigated thoroughly and an action plan was put in place. Given that the investigation has been going on and that information has been passed to the police, it is an important and relevant point to say that it is too early for us to jump to any conclusion about possible outcomes. <BR /> <BR />Irrespective of what goes on and what is found in the investigation, the Housing Executive has a range of options that it can put in place if a provider of Supporting People accommodation such as this is in breach of its contractual obligations. That can range from amending the terms of a contract to suspending the services through a contract or even terminating a contract.”
“I encourage anybody to do that, and, if the Member wishes to pass on any information that he has or which has been passed to him, I encourage him to do that.”
“If that is the case, it is the sort of thing that would concern me. I am sure that it would concern the Minister similarly if it is the case. If the Member has any information, I encourage him to pass it on to the Minister for Social Development. I can assure him that it will be appropriately dealt with. It does not matter whether it is accommodation of this nature or whatever else it may be or whether it is being operated by the Department for Social Development, my Department or whatever Department it might be. If there are people who think that the standard is not appropriate and that there is illegal or unlawful behaviour or criminality, it should be reported through the proper ways.”
“All those remedial actions, which I think will include the standard of accommodation, are to be dealt with and completed by 1 November. The Department will then further review that with the Housing Executive once all investigations have concluded to make sure that the action plan has been lived up to. <BR /> <BR />I agree, and I am sure that the Minister will similarly agree, that accommodation for vulnerable people and homeless people in our society should be of the highest possible standard and that people who are in need of such care should be looked after appropriately, whether it is by the statutory sector or, in this case, by a charity that is doing that work on our behalf.”
“I am not aware of the application for a new facility, and I am sure that the Department will come back to the Member on that in due course. This is an issue that I became aware of through press coverage. As I alluded to in my substantive answer, there were two different and separate types of press coverage. <BR /> <BR />It is concerning, and that is why the Department responded as it did and called for an investigation. I think that the initial story that was run in the local press was about what the Member said about the conditions and the standard of accommodation. Whilst that was rebutted and refuted by the Simon Community, an action plan has been put in place, as I said. That aimed to address all the outstanding issues that were raised as a result of that initial inquiry and the investigation that followed from it.”
“The Department is liaising closely with the Charity Commission as a result.”
“The Housing Executive initiated an investigation into the Mill House hostel in Ballymena once concerns were brought to its attention by the Simon Community. An action plan to implement the recommendations from the investigation is being implemented by the Simon Community. The Housing Executive has not suspended funding. However, it continues to monitor improvements to the service, as agreed in the action plan. New intakes to the facility have been suspended. <BR /> <BR />The Department has, more recently, been made aware of further concerns at Mill House, including allegations that relate to criminal activity. Officials have passed those allegations to the PSNI. In addition, the Department has referred the concerns to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, which has a regulatory role over registered charities in Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />Those points are worth bearing in mind, but that does not take away from the analysis that the Member provided: the changes that the Chancellor put forward in his Budget in July will have a negative impact on people in Northern Ireland.”
“The point that my friend and colleague makes from a sedentary position is a relevant one in this debate. The Secretary of State and the Government have made it clear that there is no more money. That puts it on this Executive, with the finite resources that we have, which are under considerable pressure, to find resources to ameliorate something that is not within our direct control, namely tax credits. <BR /> <BR />From the talks process before Christmas, I remember listening to the Member's party colleague Mark Durkan, the MP for Foyle, talk about seeking to deal with the problems that we were facing with this package of welfare reform whilst understanding that we could not do this forever and a day simply because the Executive could not afford to.”
“I am not sure whether I should seek to embarrass the Member and his party or not, but, according to the information that I have, the Member's party did not come back with any response. Nor did the Green Party. I am not sure whether there have been other lines of communication, but there certainly have not been any officially through the Minister and the Department. <BR /> <BR />On the issue of tax credits, nobody would demur from the Member's analysis of the impact that the changes that the Chancellor announced in July will have on society in Northern Ireland. The impact will be similar to the impact that there would be from the unadulterated version of welfare reform that there is in Great Britain instead of the version that has tweaks, changes and flexibilities adapted for Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am glad that the Secretary of State has come forward and brought clarity to the whole process. We will enter into the talks and, if there are cunning plans or other ideas or thoughts that might come forward, that is fine, but there has been that very clear indication from the Secretary of State that the Government will legislate if no agreement can be reached between the parties, and I welcome that.”
“If we do not proceed with welfare reform quickly through a decision that we have taken — the Stormont Castle and Stormont House agreements will form the basis of that; we enter a talks process not to renegotiate the detail of that and certainly not to renegotiate the size of the financial package associated with welfare reform — and there is no agreement between the local parties, we face the very real prospect that, early in the next financial year, over 600,000 people in Northern Ireland who receive social security benefits and tax credits will not receive those because we will not have a functioning IT system in place. That does not take account of the impact that not proceeding has on the Executive's finances and the impact that it might have on jobs in the Social Security Agency here in Belfast and in the north-west.”
“I think that we all listened with interest to what the Secretary of State said in her speech in, I think, Cambridge on Saturday evening. She has also made a statement in the House of Commons in the last few hours. She has indicated that, as a last resort, to paraphrase her, she is prepared for the Government to step in and legislate for welfare reform. We ought to welcome that, given the circumstances that we find ourselves in. <BR /> <BR />Some may huff and puff about what the Secretary of State has said.”
“The Minister for Social Development provided papers to all the Executive parties — the parties that were Executive parties at the time — in June. I would have assumed that, once the Minister has presented parties with papers, the ball is very much in the court of the other parties to come back with any queries that there might be, any questions that they have or any suggestions that they might have for improvement. Since June — in those 13 weeks, as the Member helpfully points out — only one party has come back with any queries, suggestions, solutions or whatever it might be, and, funnily enough, it is not the Member's party. In those 13 weeks, there has not been a single enquiry or question. Nothing has come back from the Member's party, yet he seeks to criticise the Minister.”
“I was going to say that we are looking forward to the talks process; that is probably the wrong way to describe it. We are imminently entering a talks process to resolve a range of issues. We are looking forward — I think that is the right term — to the Member coming forward with his cunning plan to resolve the issue of welfare reform. I thought that he believed that issue had been resolved at Stormont House. Of course, we are all mindful of the fact that welfare reform is a policy that he and his party supported in 2010. He ran on a manifesto to introduce the form of welfare reform that is happening in Great Britain right now. <BR /> <BR />The Member criticises the time that there has been since discussions with the Minister for Social Development. As I pointed out in my response, yes, there were discussions back in June.”
“Neither the Minister nor senior officials have had any discussions with other political parties on welfare reform since June 2015. In June, a meeting was held with Executive parties in the Hilton Hotel in Belfast to brief them on the progress of universal credit payment flexibilities, social sector size criteria, the supplementary payment scheme and the disability protection scheme. The meeting was to ensure that there was a full understanding amongst political parties of how the schemes were developing and to provide parties with an opportunity to engage further on all elements of the schemes. Following the meetings, the papers on the remaining schemes agreed at Stormont Castle were issued to all political parties to consider. Since then, there has been only one enquiry from one political party.”
“There have probably been some tweaks and changes down through the years, but it is still there. I hope that, given that the market has somewhat eased in more recent times — it is not as bad as it was — we will start to see more housing associations develop across Northern Ireland with the greater availability of land. Of course, the public sector is getting rid of some land as well — I have seen it in my constituency — and public sector land that is not required is being developed by housing associations, which is a good thing.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Housing Executive undertakes a needs assessment on an annual basis at a district level, which is what produced the figures that I read out to Mr McElduff in respect of the West Tyrone constituency. Once that work is done and the need is identified, housing associations are encouraged to find potential sites for development on land in that district. In that sense, the process has not changed. The housing association will then register that site on the Housing Executive's social housing development programme with a group within the Housing Executive. That then goes through a process of due diligence and, subject to funding from the public sector and the availability of funds to the housing association, that land will be developed in due course. <BR /> <BR />The process has not fundamentally changed.”
“The Member will know from work in his constituency that, although it may have eased in more recent times, it has been quite difficult for housing associations to identify appropriate land in their constituencies in the past number of years. During the property bubble times around five or six years ago, housing associations had great difficulty in that they were often outbid when they went for sites. That pushed them onto sites that were much smaller and more difficult to develop, where they were not able to build as many new-build properties as that area might have needed. As I understand it, that process has not particularly changed over that time.”
“There is housing need across all of those sectors, and that will be reflected in the numbers before us, whether they relate to Omagh, West Tyrone as a whole or Northern Ireland.”
“I do not know how many of the people in Omagh or the wider west Tyrone area who are on the waiting lists, particularly those who are in housing stress, are in private rented accommodation. I am not even sure that the Department would be able to provide those figures. If they are accessible, I am sure that the Department will provide them to you. <BR /> <BR />I accept the point absolutely: the housing waiting list will include people who are in private rented accommodation; it will also include owner-occupiers. A range of tenancy types is contained in those numbers. I am sure that the Minister accepts that it does not matter whether people are currently in social rented accommodation, in private rented accommodation or are owner-occupiers.”
“However, there are many who live longer with one or sometimes more than one chronic condition. I know that well from my current ministerial responsibilities. That impacts on a range of public services, not just health; it clearly impacts on housing as well. <BR /> <BR />Given that an increasing percentage of the population is single, which the Minister, the Housing Executive and the Department are aware of, investments need to be made over time to adapt the accommodation that we provide through the social sector to ensure that it meets all housing needs. That means family needs and couples, but also singles as well. That is a huge challenge given the profile of the housing stock, but it is a challenge that we are aware of and that we are all trying to address.”
“I thank the Member for his question. First, I know that it does not matter whether it is social development, health or finance questions — the Member will always find a way to ask a specific question about the about the Omagh area. <BR /> <BR />My answer follows on somewhat from Mr Ramsey's question about single-storey accommodation. We are always looking to find homes for people in suitable accommodation, whether to meet their disability needs or, as I said in my response to Mr Douglas, to meet lifetime homes standards, so that the house can be adapted as their needs unfold over a lifetime. The Member is right and has hit on the challenge facing us, which is an ageing population. It is very good news that we are all living longer and, generally, healthier and happier lives.”
“There are also two social housing schemes currently on site in the Omagh area, a 16-unit Apex housing reimprovement scheme for clients with learning disabilities at Railway Court, scheduled for completion in February next year, and a single unit suitable for a physically disabled person is being delivered by Habinteg on former Housing Executive land at Lammy Crescent, which is due for completion in March of next year.”
“I have been advised by the Housing Executive that, as of June 2015, there were 1,330 applications on the waiting list in the West Tyrone parliamentary constituency, which, of course, includes the former Strabane and Omagh districts. Of these, 498 applicants are deemed to be in housing stress. The 2014 to 2019 housing need assessment indicated that there is no requirement for the provision of new general-need social housing in the Omagh area. However, Apex Housing has plans to develop an 8-unit, new-build scheme in Woodside Avenue for young people leaving care, which is planned to start in late 2016.”
“The Department is working with the Housing Executive and others to develop improved processes to meet that need in a more speedy fashion so that people can get the permanent accommodation that they need.”
“<BR /> <BR />In my response to Mr Ramsey, I touched on cases where an applicant requires a very particular wheelchair accessible home for medical reasons and where their existing home cannot be adapted or a suitable alternative housing solution through existing accommodation does not exist. In those circumstances, a bespoke home is commissioned specifically for that individual or family. Unfortunately, that can lead to a delay of sometimes months or even years in getting that person suitable permanent accommodation. I am sure that the Member and the whole House will agree that this is not a satisfactory way of doing business and is not something we want to see continue.”
“Accommodation is being built to meet the needs of wheelchair users in a couple of different ways. The Member will be aware, I am sure, from his own constituency that all new-build social housing is now built to lifetime homes standards, which involves trying to remove the barriers to accessibility that are often present in dwellings. The aim is to have a more flexible design to enable the housing to wrap around the needs of the person over time, including better access to the house and approaches to the property and better circulation and accessibility within the house.”
“Having that register in place will assist the Housing Executive and the Department to know where appropriate stock is, which will hopefully allow it to better allocate people into appropriate housing in the future. <BR /> <BR />There is also an awareness of the slowness of the process in bringing forward accommodation to meet specific needs in communities. It is something that is very much under review by the Department and that the Department is taking very seriously.”
“It has been identified not so much that there is not sufficient capacity but that part of the problem is that we do not know where the capacity is. That is why, a couple of years ago, the working group recommended putting an accessible housing register in place as being a good way to identify where the specifically purpose-built bungalows might be and also the accommodation that has been adapted. <BR /> <BR />Part of the problem — I have experienced this through constituency work — is that homes that have been adapted for disabled needs are allocated to people who perhaps do not have disability needs. While that is a good house for that person, it is not an appropriate house, perhaps, and is not the best use of the investment that has been made out of the public purse in previous years.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I suppose that I can commit the Minister to all sorts of things in his absence. It is his own fault for not being here. I am sure that the Minister would be very interested in taking forward that invitation. Like me, he probably has a very open-door policy to those things and would be prepared to listen to anybody who brings any representations to him. <BR /> <BR />You are right in that you have identified that there is at least some work going on in the Department on this issue. While I am not responsible for the Department, I understand some of the concerns that the Member expressed. Indeed, I am sure that other Members around the Chamber would express such concerns from their own experience in their constituencies.”
“In addition, the Housing Executive is examining its allocation processes to ensure that best use is made of existing stock to meet need. <BR /> <BR />The Department for Social Development and the Housing Executive are reviewing the specification, standards and processes for new wheelchair standard accommodation for new homes. Work is well advanced on that, and a business case for changes to the approach is being prepared.”
“I advise the Member that, as at March 2014, housing associations had 3,901 bungalows in their stock. <BR /> <BR />The Department for Social Development has been carrying out analytical work to identify whether the current level of stock is sufficient to meet need. That has identified two issues. The first centres on the need to make better use of the wheelchair standard accommodation already available, and the second is to reduce the time taken to provide new wheelchair standard stock where it is needed. <BR /> <BR />Work to address both those issues is well advanced. An accessible housing register is being developed to identify the type and location of all current adapted and wheelchair accessible social housing.”
“We can reflect on that success and collectively consider how we can improve this fantastic facility.”
“There is not as much access between Millmount and Comber as there is in urban Belfast, as you might expect. Whilst it might seem wrong to talk about having parking close to it, there are some people who like to drive a little bit and then cycle, using the greenway from a point further on down its route. <BR /> <BR />Finally, there is a need to consider how we can link the end of the Comber greenway, which ends at the Comber end just a little shy of Comber itself, into the town centre in a way that is consistent with the recently published master plan. The Comber greenway has been a huge success and, now that it is becoming a more permanent fixture, it is only right and proper that we reflect on its success. I thank Mr Newton for providing the opportunity to do that this evening.”
“They all have mucked in and played their part, whether that has been with funding or maintenance or in some of the developments, but nobody has really had ownership of it. My view, which I share with others, is that perhaps the new local councils could play a greater role in taking it forward — perhaps along the lines of a park, as Mr Douglas outlined. <BR /> <BR />It is well and diversely used. There are issues around the safety of people who are on bikes and the use of the greenway by walkers and people who walk their dogs and, if some of those safety issues can be addressed, there may well be a case for some voluntary delineation of use between cyclists and others on the greenway. There are issues with access, particularly at the Comber end.”
“I think that there is potential, and I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Newton, Mr Lyttle and Mr Douglas that there is the potential to develop the greenway further, now that it has moved from that temporary status to something much more permanent. One of the ways in which we can crack that future development is to settle the issue of ownership and responsibility. The points made by Mr Newton and Mr Douglas around that are very pertinent. Even though there has been a role for many, it has never really been the responsibility of the Department for Regional Development, it has never really been the responsibility of the local councils and it has never really been the responsibility of Sustrans.”
“Thankfully, there were no issues, but it had the potential to be quite dangerous. Thankfully, Roads Service responded and put a bridge in.”
“<BR /> <BR />The greenway has clearly brought some success for local businesses. Comber is a destination for cycling. If there were maps of places to go cycling, Comber would be on them. That has been made the case, unofficially, by the fact that people are using the greenway, coming out of Belfast and ending up in Comber. The fact that Comber is a cycling destination is something that was recently affirmed by the fact that the Gran Fondo went through it. It was great to see that happening. <BR /> <BR />There have been other enhancements down through the years. I was very pleased to be able to work with officials from Roads Service, as was, to ensure that a bridge was placed at Ballyrainey Road. It was potentially a very dangerous crossing point, at which people had to exit the greenway and go down one slipway and up another.”
“I have watched the greenway become a great success. I have watched it be used by local people and by people from further afield — the operative word being "watched". <BR /> <BR />If I can take credit for one thing, it is the development of the enhancement of the greenway. When I was a member of the then Ards Borough Council, I got the council to agree to separate a little bit of The Square in Comber aside for a bike rack. Having a constituency office in Comber, I could identify that the greenway was being used increasingly. People were coming down the greenway and into Comber but had nowhere to park their bikes safely. They were parking them at various locations and using local coffee shops. Mr Douglas may even have been one of those people. The council agreed to install a bike rack, and it is well used.”
“There have been occasions when you and others have appeared at my office looking for me during the working week. Of course, I have been out working, as you would expect.”
“I know that it is a controversial issue in some parts of east Belfast, but, as someone who believes that we got rid of the Belfast and County Down Railway and a commuter railway network before we even had commuters, there is still a bit of me that harbours a desire to see rapid transit, or something of that kind, extend out as far as Comber, and perhaps even further afield, but that is a discussion for another day, and perhaps for another Budget.”
“I have to admit that I was sceptical about its chances of success at the start. That scepticism was somewhat assuaged by the fact that it was to be a temporary measure. Mr Lyttle mentioned that it was designated to be, and had been for many years, since the end of the Belfast and County Down Railway, for transportation purposes. It was earmarked to be used, at least in part, in an early iteration of the Belfast rapid transit scheme.”
“It is unusual to be called by that name in the House. <BR /> <BR />I am glad to be able to participate in the Adjournment debate. I have very much enjoyed it and the contributions thus far. I join others in congratulating Mr Newton on securing it. The Member represents the East Belfast constituency. Given that the greenway is called the Comber greenway, I think it apt and appropriate that the debate have a perspective from my home town of Comber, at the other end of the greenway. <BR /> <BR />The greenway has been a fantastic success. Although it is called the Comber greenway, it is something that is shared and in the shared ownership of a community right from the heart of Belfast out into a rural County Down setting. The greenway has been an undeniable success since its creation, close to a decade ago.”
“It is important that we put in place a clear statutory framework that permits, in certain circumstances and with clear safeguards, the sharing of data for medical and social care purposes for the benefit of people in Northern Ireland. I will seek to address, through the process in the House and in Committee Stage, the issue around public interest, and I will try to address the concerns that the Committee has to ensure that this important legislation can get onto the statute books.”
“I am sorry that the Member missed the Bill's Second Stage yesterday. It was a very useful debate on the various concerns that had been expressed by the Committee during its consideration of the Bill so far. I am mindful of concerns, particularly around public interest. I am also mindful of concerns that some data that is not anonymised is already being issued without consent but through a common law process for that information to be shared externally to the system. It concerned me greatly to learn that.”
“They are working together on some very important issues, such as the frailty of elderly people, diabetes care and the production of new care pathways. There is a lot of really innovative work going on across integrated care partnerships. It is crucial to ensure from here on in that whatever lessons are learned in one of the 18 care partnerships are shared, across not just all the integrated care partnerships but the health and social care system.”
“I mentioned integrated care partnerships in response to Mr McMullan's question, after having attended the regional workshop recently in Lisburn. That was my first interaction with integrated care partnerships. I knew that they were an integral part of the vision laid out in Transforming Your Care, and it was useful for me very early on in my tenure to get out and speak to members of various integrated care partnerships and hear a little bit from them about how ICPs have been working over their first few years. The message was a positive one, and I could see very clearly the opportunities presented to the broad health and social care system in Northern Ireland by having ICPs in place, in which people from primary care and from various charities and stakeholder organisations are working together.”