Mark Durkan
Foyle · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“That review involved an extensive engagement exercise with charities, regulators and funders, aimed at creating a more modern and proportionate regulatory system.”
“When the review was commenced in 2021, many organisations were still in the midst of responding to the pandemic. Since then, they have faced a succession of new and evolving challenges. The ending of European funding programmes, on which so many in our communities relied for decades, has left a significant gap.”
“<BR /> <BR />The broad principles behind the Bill are sensible. The changes will modernise charity regulation, strengthen the Charity Commission's ability to intervene where misconduct or mismanagement occurs, improve information sharing and, importantly, reduce unnecessary red tape, particularly for smaller charities with limited adminis…”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak today. Before turning to the detail of the legislation — there will not even be that much detail in the debate today at Second Stage — I pay tribute to our charity sector. Across every constituency, charities provide support that changes and saves lives every single day.”
“<BR /> <BR />Whilst the SDLP supports legislation that removes unnecessary bureaucracy, we should not kid ourselves that administrative reform alone will secure the future of charities and organisations in the voluntary and community sector.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. Like other Members, I welcome the fact that we have reached this point. There seems to be consensus among Committee members and, I am sure, all Members that the introduction of these measures will save lives, which begs the question of whether the 10-year delay in introducing the measures had an opposi…”
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“They will need support to enable them to contribute once again to our job market, our tourism industry and our social lives. The measures in the Bill will play a role in that by laying the groundwork for their return and make the changes to modernise licensing even more pressing than they have been. We were initially told in Committee that the Bill would allow the removal of Easter weekend restrictions to come into force in time for Easter 2021, but I notice on the BBC today that it is Easter 2022. I would like the Minister to clarify that in her concluding remarks. Obviously, we do not know what lies ahead of us, but we all hope that enough progress will have been made by then for businesses and patrons to have the benefit of that change as soon as possible.”
“First, I declare an interest, as my family owns licensed premises. <BR /> <BR />The demands for the changes that the Bill will make were being made long before its previous incarnation in 2016. It is certainly long-awaited legislation, and our licensing laws are very much in need of an update. That said, our scrutiny of the Bill has to take account of the circumstances that the hospitality industry is operating in or, rather, sadly, not operating in at the moment. What the hospitality industry and, indeed, all of us would not give to be subject to the old system rather than the current restrictions that we now face as a result of the pandemic. <BR /> <BR />Pubs and the wider hospitality industry face a fight for survival, and many of them will struggle to open their doors again.”
“Will the Minister commit, with her Executive colleagues, to looking at the possible reintroduction of such a scheme, given the high likelihood if not inevitability that a lot of people will fall into difficulty?”
“I thank the Minister and very much welcome her statement. It outlines her ambition and approach to tackling our housing crisis. However, as legislators, we will be judged on what we do, not on what we want to do. I look forward to working with the Minister and colleagues to realise these much-needed and desirable changes. <BR /> <BR />It is difficult to find something that is not in the statement, but I have managed it. As the Minister outlined, prevention must play a part in the homelessness strategy, but the statement does not mention how we can support people or prevent them from falling into homelessness. I am thinking particularly of those people who are struggling now to pay their mortgage and those who will struggle greatly to do so in the future. Previously, we had a mortgage support scheme.”
“I thank the Minister for her answers thus far. Partnership and collaboration is pivotal to so much that we do in the Assembly, and it is certainly important if we are to address and prevent antisocial behaviour. In my constituency, the Housing Executive is always very proactive and happy to engage with other agencies to address issues as they arise, but it is my experience that there are some inconsistencies across the housing associations; some are very proactive, while others display an unwillingness or inability to engage with other agencies to address problems. Is that something that the Minister will consider raising with the Minister for Communities, if not the Federation of Housing Associations?”
“It is great to see advancement on Ebrington. It has been long overdue. Has the Executive Office heard any concerns from the business community in Derry that, while it is great that there will be business and office accommodation at Ebrington, it will not create new jobs per se and it runs a risk of displacing jobs in the city and across the district?”
“In the light of the potential changes to the Bill in the Commons Committee tomorrow and on Thursday and when it returns to the Floor of the Commons, can the Minister reiterate that no changes will be extended to Northern Ireland without the Assembly's approval? <BR /> <BR />We support the changes that have been made thus far, which are before us. The Minister and the Committee Chair have already detailed them, but I highlight in particular those that relate to climate change, which help to ensure that pension schemes can adapt to a low- and — this will, hopefully, be in the not-too-distant future — net zero-carbon economy. The new provisions aimed at strengthening protection against pension fraud and scams are similarly welcome.”
“We recognise the time pressures that there are with the Bill as a result of the three-year absence, and that puts pension scheme members here at a disadvantage to those in Britain. We supported the LCM in June on the basis of the Communities Minister's assurance that any changes to the Bill as it made its passage through the House of Lords to the Commons would be brought here for scrutiny and approval; hence the motion that is before us. That assurance was sought because of the Committee's nervousness about potential changes to the Bill that we would not wish to support. <BR /> <BR />The UK Government have already indicated their intention to secure support to remove the Lords amendment on delaying the introduction of commercial pension dashboards.”
“As I said in June, when we passed the first legislative consent motion related to the Pension Schemes Bill — I know that the Minister will concur — LCMs should be a last resort, particularly when we are dealing with the current Westminster Government. No matter how laudable the aims of a Bill, the Assembly should not surrender its powers or reduce scrutiny lightly. LCMs and accelerated passage are suboptimal routes for us to take. I take this opportunity, as I take every opportunity, to reiterate to the Minister that we have the time to ensure that we do not have to cut corners when it comes to scrutinising the upcoming welfare mitigation legislation.”
“<BR /> <BR />We need to have the ambition to create an all-Ireland rail network, and that ambition must be matched with investment and effort. I have no doubt that we can work collectively across the Chamber and in the Executive to deliver these much-needed and much-demanded services.”
“He was a true champion of rail. In many ways, unlike the trains, he was ahead of his time, seeing and espousing the environmental and economic benefits that investment could bring. He would be most proud of your commitment, Nichola. However, just as you will not let Translink rest on its laurels, he certainly would not have let the Minister rest on her laurels either, and she is not. In collaboration with her Southern counterpart, Minister Eamon Ryan, she has expanded on the New Decade, New Approach commitment to high-speed cross-border conductivity to include the north-west. We have to look beyond Derry being the end of the line, as the potential for growth is massive. We would love to see an extension of the network and the restoration of rail in Tyrone, using Derry as a springboard into Donegal and beyond, as Ms Anderson said.”
“She has reversed the decision of her predecessor, Chris Hazzard, who removed plans for phase 3 — the renewal of the track between Castlerock and Eglinton — from this Budget period, and she has commissioned a feasibility study. An updated one was required, given that phase 3, as I said, had not been included in the next Budget period by Chris Hazzard. I do not enjoy political ping-pong, as Ms Anderson puts it, but being rebuked by Ms Anderson for blame game politics and negativity is like getting a goalkeeping lesson from Jordan Pickford. <BR /> <BR />The Minister remains engaged with Into the West, so this Minister has done well to get us back on track in the 10 months that she has been in post. Any time I discuss or debate the issue of rail in the north-west, I think of our late colleague and great friend, John Dallat.”
“If we build it, they will come, and, if we build it up further, even more will come. <BR /> <BR />I am delighted that the Minister is not letting Translink sit on its laurels. She is pushing it to continue investing in and improving the existing services and infrastructure. That has been evidenced clearly by her responsiveness to issues raised by us as local elected representatives, even something as apparently minor as extending the availability of discounted journeys to Dublin that had previously, bizarrely, started and finished at Coleraine. It was not that minor that Translink could or would fix it without the Minister's intervention. She has looked at and continues to look at timetable tweaks to improve connectivity with Dublin.”
“Huge credit and thanks must go to the local lobby group, Into the West, who saw not only the folly of that plan but the real potential of the Derry-Belfast or Belfast-Derry line to grow. A great campaign was fought. Sadly, in our constituency, we are well rehearsed in mobilising to fight campaigns against such injustices, and that campaign was won. How the service has grown, with incremental improvements in timetabling and the use of EU funding to build a new multimodal transport hub. I certainly acknowledge the role that Chris Hazzard played in that. Those improvements, however, have been outstripped by a growth in rail passenger numbers, with a 61% increase in the two years since the hourly Belfast service was introduced in 2017. That is the fastest rate of passenger growth anywhere on the island.”
“I very much welcome this evening's debate and thank the Member for bringing it to the House. Ms Anderson has outlined clearly the undeniable and blatant disparity in rail provision between the east and west of Northern Ireland and, indeed, the east and west of the island. A quick glance at a map detailing the rail network across the island shows the gaping hole in the north-west that is a stark image that demonstrates, beyond question, the impact of historic neglect and, quite feasibly, deliberate disinvestment in rail in that area. <BR /> <BR />It is hard to believe, but that picture would be even starker if the former Department for Regional Development and Translink had had their way 10 years ago, when they signalled that it was the end of the line for the Derry line.”
“<BR /> <BR />None of us doubt the difficulties ahead, but now is the time to front-load support and to provide protection against the looming economic carnage. We must invest in our communities to offset the worst of this fallout and to prevent the problems that we can see coming down the track. Our constituents will demand no less, and our constituents deserve no less.”
“Sponsors have been hit very hard, and restrictions on attendances deprive clubs of much-needed revenue and supporters of the pleasure and, in some cases, the pain of getting in to support and cheer on their team, whatever their sporting code. Perhaps, as a suggestion, Northern Ireland's share of the revenue generated through the sugar tax or the soft drink levy, which has been hovering at around £12 million, I think, in Barnett consequentials over the past few years, could be invested in sports, which do so much to promote healthy living and to tackle obesity and the associated problems. <BR /> <BR />Local government is on its knees too. We need to work more closely with councils to ensure that they have the capacity and the financial wherewithal to carry out their vital services and support communities.”
“It is incumbent on the Minister for Communities and the Executive not only to ensure that those people get the financial support that they need from the Executive but to support them to adapt to the regulations, for as long as they exist, to allow them to continue, whether that is through live streaming or using venues for other purposes in the interim to supplement income. <BR /> <BR />Our sports sector is struggling, from our elite sportsmen, sportswomen and clubs down to the grassroots. Sports clubs and activities play such an integral role in all our communities and in the development of our children as well as in our own physical and mental well-being.”
“These people and these industries cannot simply press pause. It is not just the livelihoods of the thousands of artists, performers, sound engineers and set designers and such that the industries employ that are at risk. When they go, whether it is into unemployment or, if they follow the Chancellor's "Let them eat cake" advice, to retrain, many of the aspects that we all miss so much during the pandemic — going to concerts, to the theatre or to museums — will not be there when we overcome the pandemic, and we will overcome the pandemic.”
“I welcome the original £4 million and, indeed, the more recent £29 million that was allocated as a result of Barnett consequentials, but, given the delay in the announcement of that second tranche, it is vital that that money gets out to the affected industries and individuals without delay. I was glad to read in the paper today that that is happening at last. They must be supported not just throughout this circuit breaker but beyond. Mr Buckley described COVID-19 as a "disruptor", but we have to do everything across every sector to make sure that it does not become a destroyer.”
“<BR /> <BR />I turn now to our arts and culture sector, which has been uniquely affected by the pandemic and the regulations.”
“People receiving those benefits, and those making their applications now and in the coming months, need the certainty and assurance that they will be protected against the sort of system that the UK Tory Government would impose upon them. <BR /> <BR />In order to deal with the anticipated avalanche of people requiring that support, DFC has identified the need for 1,400 new posts, but it is only getting funded for 900. There is no capital bid associated with it, because, apparently, capacity exists in the Northern Ireland Civil Service estate to accommodate those new workers. I do not know whether that takes into account social distancing. I would like to know where they will be based, and, Minister, please do not say, "Belfast". Government must take this, and every, opportunity to decentralise and to tackle ongoing regional imbalance.”
“The latest figures show that there were an additional 89,250 universal credit claims between March and July of this year. As the current incarnation of the furlough scheme ends, and as our businesses face the double challenge of the pandemic and leaving the EU, the Economy Minister has estimated that up to 100,000 people will be unemployed, while the Communities Minister envisages a worst-case scenario of up to 125,000 claimants. Families will badly need an extension of the current mitigations, but the rise in new applicants highlights even more starkly the gaps in the current package: the five-week wait; the two-child tax credit rule; and the benefit cap.”
“However, it is vital that primary legislation be laid before the Assembly as soon as possible for us as MLAs and, indeed, stakeholders, to scrutinise, alongside the funding commitments and requirements. If any questions about or criticisms of last-minute accelerated passage are met with accusations of trying to sabotage the legislation or trying to sabotage mitigations, those will be seen through and dismissed. <BR /> <BR />I sympathise with the Communities Minster's explanation to the Committee that responding to the pandemic has dominated her Department's workload, and I commend her in her dedication to addressing the plethora of issues as they have arisen. I urge her, however, to recognise that this legislation will be part of that response.”
“When the Minister's party joined the DUP in voting to hand our welfare powers over to the Tory Government that Mr McHugh has decried, it promised that no social housing tenant would be affected by the bedroom tax. Indeed, in February, the now Communities Minister took credit for Sinn Féin "binning the bedroom tax". Yet, in response to my question for written answer last week, she confirmed that there are 227 households being hit with that punitive measure. <BR /> <BR />The New Decade, New Approach deal set out a commitment to review welfare mitigations and agree new measures before March 2020 — it is now October 2020 — when the existing package was due to expire. Of course, events overtook us, and the only option has been to extend the current scheme under regulations.”
“We are likely to see many, many families struggling to pay their mortgages, and sadly, inevitably, we will see repossessions. That is devastating for families and puts even more strain on our already overburdened, drowning housing sector. Serious consideration must be given to a mortgage relief scheme. I recognise that the bulk of the Budget would have been prepared in the early days of lockdown, but, knowing what we now know, the need to look at such a scheme is blatantly obvious. <BR /> <BR />As I said, there are few policy areas that do not dovetail with housing policy, and chief amongst them is social security provision, which is the second area of the Budget that I want to touch upon.”
“Absolutely. I do not want to lay all the responsibility at the Finance Minister's door, but, obviously, it is the Budget debate and he is the Minister who is here. <BR /> <BR />Future funding determined by the regulator says that more than £2 billion is needed. Will the Minister commit to approving the investments to the right levels to ensure that water is on a sustainable footing for the longer term and avoid, as Mr Buckley said, the delay of future projects and the decay of existing services? <BR /> <BR />I will return to housing. As well as helping people to get on the housing ladder, it is vital that we help people to stay on it. There is no sugar-coating the effect that the pandemic has had, and will continue to have, on our economy and job market.”
“Does the Minister agree that there needs to be sustained and significant investment in water, as it is the key to unlocking crucial housing and business development.”
“That can only be good for the wider economy. <BR /> <BR />On that point, I must draw attention to the severe budgetary pressures facing Northern Ireland Water, which is essential to any new homebuilding programme. The Infrastructure Minister made this plain: homebuilding is being inhibited by a huge strain on our water service, with a lethal combination of the pandemic now increasing water usage manyfold. Around 100 locations in the North are reaching, or have reached, maximum capacity. I note that a number of in-year allocations have been made to Northern Ireland Water, and they are very much welcome. However, those are just about meeting statutory requirements. It is vital for our economy and our communities that there is a long-term strategic approach to this crucial investment by the Finance Department and the Executive as a whole.”
“I recognise the Department's support, but I urge the Finance Minister to give the NI Co-ownership Housing Association and other housing associations the certainty of multi-year funding through financial transactions capital so that they can more easily navigate the peaks and troughs in our housing market. Given the economic situation that we will face in the coming months and, let us be realistic, coming years, banks will only become more cautious. That multi-year funding could give them the confidence to lend to Co-ownership and other associations. It would also have the knock-on effect of stimulating the construction industry and encouraging private developers to build more homes that come in under that £165,000 mark if they know that the co-ownership initiative will enable more people to purchase them.”
“The low number of social homes built has left many applicants languishing on the waiting list for years, and we all know them. We also need to support people who have no realistic prospect of securing social housing but who will also struggle to buy their own homes, which is why I welcome funding for co-ownership. It is one of the success stories in our housing landscape, and one that must be integral to any housing strategy going forward. It plays a vital role in helping lower earners to get their own homes and to leave the private rented sector and all the associated precariousness that can come with that. <BR /> <BR />Unsurprisingly, applications to the Co-ownership Housing Association have surged just as banks have reduced availability and are requiring up to 20% deposits in light of the pandemic.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Minister's party, Sinn Féin, recently launched a policy paper detailing ambitious proposals for 20,000 social and affordable homes. However, I hasten to add that the proposals are for 20,000 new homes in the Twenty-six Counties. The SDLP is pretty disappointed that the Finance Minister and his colleague the Minister for Communities, who has responsibility for housing, have not set out similar, or anywhere near as ambitious, plans for the North in this Budget. Instead, the social housing build target has been missed by almost 60%, and the 2021 social housing budget has decreased by £19 million on the previous year. <BR /> <BR />Our housing crisis needs a multifaceted solution. We urgently need more social housing built to house the thousands of people on the Housing Executive waiting list.”
“A roof over your head is the basis for a healthy life and for cohesive policymaking. There are few areas of public and social policy that housing does not affect. It affects education, social security, the labour market and health. What chance has a child who has to do their homework in unsuitable, overcrowded and unfit housing, or a child who regularly has to flit between different homes in the private rented sector, to fulfil their full potential? The absolute minimum that the Executive should be able to guarantee to everyone in Northern Ireland is a warm, secure home. Yet, nearly 22,000 households in Northern Ireland are homeless, with the greatest number of those — some 2,732 — in my constituency of Foyle.”
“After the inability of the last Executive to bring forward a Budget and three years of no government, when cut-and-paste Budgets were brought forward by civil servants with no political input, we all hoped that today's debate would be a much more optimistic affair. However, these are incredibly challenging times for families and businesses across Northern Ireland. Our ability to use devolution to respond to the particular challenges facing us should be at the forefront of our minds as we debate this legislation today. <BR /> <BR />As the SDLP's social justice spokesperson, I will focus my remarks on our housing crisis, social security, the dire situation facing our arts, culture and sports sectors, and local government. We are in the grip of a housing crisis.”
“Thank you for that positive answer, Minister. It will be very well received in my constituency. Is there any update on the feasibility study out of the positive discussions that have been ongoing?”
“<BR /> <BR />Political representatives need to be making the same collective effort that we expect from our constituents and definitely not making this a sectarian issue. I do not deny Minister Poots's observation that levels of this virus are higher in predominately nationalist areas. However, his observations were devoid of any recognition of the link between deprivation and high levels of the virus, just as in many other countries in the world. We need to understand the variation in levels across the North and determine the reasons for it, whether that may be the inability to work from home, housing or underlying health conditions, and to respond accordingly by committing to addressing those inequalities rather than making this a sectarian head count.”
“Clear, coherent communication of the regulations is, quite literally, a life-or-death situation. It serves no one for Ministers to undermine the messaging by trying to insinuate that they are more favourable to one sector or the other and trying to disown decisions that they had a hand in. <BR /> <BR />The Executive cannot command adherence from the public if the public is not afforded coherence from the Executive. It is reckless for the DUP to be talking out of both sides of its mouth on this. I do not know whether Minister Poots thought to share his criticisms of these regulations with his Executive colleagues before he shared them with the BBC. However, I do know that his party had the power to veto them but chose not to.”
“<BR /> <BR />People and businesses have complied, despite the fact that these regulations are only being debated and voted upon in this House after they have been implemented and before they were even published. That is a testament to the public's willingness to heed the advice from our scientific and health experts and to protect one another to end this pandemic as soon as possible. Unfortunately, their collective efforts are not being entirely matched by this Executive. <BR /> <BR />It is one thing to expect people to follow laws that have not even been published. That is not good governance, but it is perhaps forgivable given the urgency, but only just. What is not excusable is Ministers contradicting one another on the airwaves hours after these arrangements have been agreed.”
“Similarly, there is a swathe of businesses and workers who have been overlooked again by the Executive, not least sole traders and the self-employed. Other businesses have been left in the impossible situation of being allowed to stay open, and therefore not eligible for support, but their income stream is effectively halted. Many will be glad that gyms, for example, have been allowed to stay open, given the associated physical and mental health benefits, but they cannot hold classes — a vital income stream. Anomalies also exist around soft-play and child minders, another area that is in need of specific, tailored support. The gaps in support in these regulations must be urgently plugged, and I hope that the Minister can set out when that will be done.”
“We cannot leave people torn between protecting their neighbours, workmates and the public at large, and putting food on the table for their families and themselves, which is what we are doing with the lack of such a scheme.”
“The vast majority of people understand and do their utmost to do what is required to overcome the virus, however. <BR /> <BR />If we expect the public to adhere to restrictions on their freedoms to curb the spread of the virus, it is incumbent on the Executive to make it financially viable for people to do so. It is totally unacceptable, and remains so, that, unlike in England, Scotland and Wales, there is no self-isolation support grant in Northern Ireland for people who are forced to self-isolate and who cannot work from home. The Communities Minister has informed the Committee for Communities that her Department is considering a bid for such a scheme in the January monitoring round, but that is just too late. We need that scheme now.”
“I join other Members in offering my condolences and heartfelt sympathy to those families who have lost loved ones over this past awful time. I also offer our support and solidarity to those who are staring into an economic abyss and facing huge financial uncertainty as a result of these necessary regulations. <BR /> <BR />I am conscious that the regulations that are before us today have long been superseded by more and more stringent restrictions. The decision, for example, to enter into a circuit breaker has caused understandable dismay, frustration and fear, not least in my constituency of Foyle, which has been subject to additional restrictions for a number of weeks. The past seven months have been extremely difficult, and none of us wanted to have a repeat of March in any form.”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. Does the Minister accept that a uniform approach does not take into consideration the unique characteristics of different geographical areas or the difficulty and safety of some routes and that, therefore, this is not the ideal way to approach the issue?”
“I am sure that we all look forward to seeing the outcome of that. Does the Minister recognise the potential chaos that the situation would cause for schools and the massive stress it could cause for children?”
“This is pretty appropriate given that my daughter Lily, who is six today, was re-elected onto her school's eco-council yesterday. Further to the Minister's answer to Miss Woods and the particular example that he used of reusable bottles, will the Minister give any consideration to funding schools to provide pupils with said reusable bottles?”
“I will listen carefully to the Minister's response on the issue of how she will ensure that decisions on protecting practical childcare options for our cross-border workers are made here, not in London. <BR /> <BR />I urge the Minister to outline the implications of all of these issues and to explain why the LCM is absolutely necessary now as opposed to a Bill coming through the Assembly.”
“I note the concerns raised by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission about the impact that paragraph 6 of schedule 1 may have on the payment of childcare within universal credit for working tax credit for cross-border workers who rely on childcare providers based over the border. I can think of families in my constituency to whom that would apply. The childcare has to be provided in the UK in order to access these elements, and it was EU law that addressed that discrepancy, not the common travel area. It is another example of the creeping "borderism" that Brexit has instigated for those who can least afford it. The Minister and the Assembly must be alert to that, and I am sure that many of us are.”
“<BR /> <BR />I must say that the LCM is kind of difficult to square with the Minister's welcome recent confirmation that social security powers would be returned here from Westminster, having been handed over by some parties here to the British Government at the time that the Welfare Reform Act was approved. The Minister has confirmed that the regulatory powers will come to the Assembly, but that raises this question: why not the primary legislative powers? If there is a reasonable explanation for these to be made in London rather than in the Assembly, now is the time for us to hear it. <BR /> <BR />The SDLP supports social security coordination with the EU and retaining EU provisions, given our border situation.”
“Can the Minister confirm — I think that she already has — that, if the Northern Ireland provisions were omitted from the original Bill, a further Assembly Bill would be needed to ensure that her Department had the necessary powers to amend retained EU law on social security coordination? As the Minister and the Chair of the Committee have alluded to, that would be preferable, as it would give this House the time to scrutinise those provisions and to set out our opposition to the immigration clauses. The SDLP wants the system to work, and we are conscious of the time pressures with the pending exit from the EU, but, to be frank, handing any powers over to a Tory Government should be a last resort.”
“My colleagues the MP for Foyle and the MP for South Belfast voted against the Bill in Westminster, and we have concerns about it and therefore, by extension, concerns about the Assembly giving our consent to it. Although the LCM deals only with the social security provisions of the Bill, I should take the opportunity to reiterate our opposition to the swathe of delegated powers that it hands to the Tory Government, the party of the "hostile environment", to establish a new immigration system after the transition period. <BR /> <BR />On the social security provisions, I have questions on which I would appreciate a clear response from the Minister.”