Kellie Armstrong
Strangford · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of the Fisheries, Aquaculture and Water Environment Bill. It is timely and important. Miss McIlveen, a fellow MLA for the Strangford constituency, has just spoken.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill reflects the realities of the post-Brexit landscape by aligning protections here with those in other UK jurisdictions and the UK Fisheries Act. That consistency is important for standards, enforcement and international confidence in our products.”
“Last year, I met the Department and we discussed that. The opportunities for seaweed farming in Strangford lough are wonderful, and the opportunities from seaweed that Queen's University has identified are incredible. We are lucky to have those opportunities on our doorstep, as long as there is licensing and it is properly looked after.”
“Moving beyond managing individual fisheries, the Bill recognises the interconnected nature of our rivers, loughs and seas — an approach that is very much in line with Alliance's commitment to evidence-based environmental policy. The inclusion of a national benefit objective is also significant.”
“A while ago, we saw that commercial bottom trawling had all but decimated the horse mussel population in Strangford lough. It has since been changed to a special area of conservation. That limits a lot of activity in the lough, which is not a bad thing considering that horse mussels are coming back.”
“They allow for timely action on lower-level offences without over-burdening the courts while still acting as a meaningful deterrent. If only everybody were acting properly, we would not need to have those deterrents, but we are where we are, and the Bill hopes to improve upon that.”
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“It is time that we bring workforce pay issues together and put forward a case, because they are not second-class workers; they are key to our children's well-being.”
“Two children from the same school cannot go to the same work placement because they need two wheelchairs on a bus, and no buses have two wheelchair places. While that is an infrastructure issue, it comes back to careers people not giving children the appropriate advice or support. The children already believe that it is too difficult to get to work, so what is education providing for those young people? I have to ask the Minister to clarify whether basic disability awareness is built into all transition services, including careers advice. <BR /> <BR />I am also very aware that much has been made about the amount spent on special educational needs, particularly on the workforce.”
“Thank you, Principal Deputy Speaker. I think that I might need it. <BR /> <BR />I was about to move on to part of what the all-party group on disability heard from Fleming Fulton School, whose representatives talked about the Careers Service and how they felt that their school was a poor relation in comparison with the grammar schools only a few miles away from them. Some 27% of people with disabilities are not in employment. The statistics for Northern Ireland are the worst in the UK. The careers advice that these schools receive is limited compared with that received by other schools. For example, as part of the careers system, children from Fleming Fulton School have been asked to go to work placements that they cannot get to because the public transport system requires them to phone 24 hours in advance to book a wheelchair place.”
“It is for the Department of Education to stop using outdated and segregating language. I will say nothing about the fact that there is very little provision for after-school facilities for children with disabilities. <BR /> <BR />I am very fortunate to know Killard House School, a moderate learning difficulties (MLD) school that has helped children to achieve GCSEs and develop their skills to the very best that they can achieve. Many children leave school with qualifications enabling them to enter the workplace. The system currently moves MLD children into mainstream, where children with disabilities are separate and not even counted as part of the school intake or exam result achievements. Is this system working to develop children with disabilities, or is it further segregating children with disabilities?”
“I appreciate that a period of transition is complex, so I ask the Minister to confirm whether any learning has been taken from the experience of the special educational needs and disability tribunal. If the members of that tribunal had been consulted, many of the repeated errors and continuing mistreatment of children with disabilities and their parents would have been dealt with and would no longer be part of the system. I demand that the use of the term "supernumerary" when referring to children with disabilities stop today. Treating children with disabilities as separate and not counting them in a school's intake says much about a system that is based on division and difference; it should be a child-centred and inclusive approach. The Department of Education decided to place children with disabilities in mainstream schools.”
“I do not want to have to sit in another meeting room with parents in tears, frustrated that their child is the only child in a primary school without a school place. Minister, as a parent, it breaks my heart when I hear a child with a disability asking why they do not have a school place: have they done something wrong, or is it because they are disabled that they cannot get a school place? That is a disgrace.”
“If we are investing that money now, I fully expect that children with special educational needs will not be left in that situation this coming summer. It is time that we ensure that every child, irrespective of whether they have a disability, finds out what their next school will be at the same time.”
“<BR /> <BR />I will use my time to discuss the failure of the system to work appropriately at the time of transition. Every year, children with special educational needs are notified about the school that they are to attend weeks, if not months, after their peers. Why? The Assembly has been calling on the Department of Education to stop that unfair and discriminatory treatment of children with disabilities since I came into the House in 2016. It did not just happen last year: it happened the year before that, the year before that and the year before that. Indeed, the Children's Law Centre has said that SEND provision has been allowed to degenerate into critical failure. I appreciate that the Minister has talked about the strategic placement board.”
“When we think about education and children with special educational needs, we need to bear equity in mind. To get equality for all pupils, we need to think about how we can encourage and increase the investment in the children who need more help in order to be treated equally. <BR /> <BR />I support the Alliance motion and confirm my support for the Ulster Unionist amendment. I absolutely agree with Mr Butler on that one. I declare an interest as chair of the all-party group on learning disabilities and vice chair of the all-party group on disabilities. In those roles, I have heard from pupils and parents that the current system for supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities is failing them and their schools.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer, and I really look forward to that. Recently, I met Bayview Contracts, which is a fantastic company in Newry that has been delivering retrofitting in the South of Ireland. It was interesting to me that you talked about external funding, Minister. One of the routes to that external funding is to make a decision on whether we go for a building energy rating (BER) or an energy performance certificate (EPC). Has the Minister had any chance during his short tenure at the Department for Communities to think about that?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. He mentioned the Department for Communities: be still my heart. I absolutely agree that shared budgets need to be there, but Northern Ireland has already missed out in this financial year on some of the crucial investments that the rest of the UK have had. Does he agree that we will be seeking for the Minister of Finance and the Executive to ensure that we never miss out on those opportunities to upskill our people here?”
“The waiting list for homes grows longer, and children and families still live in poverty. All of that has a significant impact on health and education. <BR /> <BR />We need appropriate time to plan a Programme for Government that will include the housing outcome, as previously promised. We need cross-departmental sharing of funds in order to deliver an effective programme of delivery for the next three years. This must be the last time that we debate a single-year Budget that limits our ambitions for Northern Ireland. I sincerely hope that the returned Executive will work together to deliver better for Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />I would appreciate the Minister's confirming whether she will include time in the process — time to enable Members and her Executive colleagues to identify priorities that will meet need — and whether, in future, she will seek to enable delivery through a multi-year Budget. Others have said, "This is very quick. This is terrible", but 65% of the Budget for next year has been laid down. That now gives us time for scrutiny of the future Budget. <BR /> <BR />It is becoming more difficult to accept that the Assembly continues to prioritise health and education without meeting head-on the reforms that are needed to provide sustainable service delivery, all while our housing stock desperately needs to be maintained. We have not even started to look at how a programme to retrofit social homes will be carried out.”
“They include the anti-poverty strategy, the disability strategy, the active ageing strategy, the gender equality strategy, the sexual orientation strategy and the inclusion and social change strategies that should now be available to assist the Minister of Finance and the Executive to underpin a Programme for Government. I therefore ask the Minister of Finance to confirm in her response whether the Budget for 2024-25 will be underpinned by a Programme for Government that seeks to improve social inclusion outcomes for many of our socially excluded groups and whether she will consider the recommendations in the Department for Communities' social inclusion strategies that have been developed by expert panels.”
“<BR /> <BR />The non-budget expenditure, which is the amount of expenditure through the social fund that is used for discretionary and winter payments, has been increased by just under £69·5 million. <BR /> <BR />In previous years, rather than waiting until the last part of the year, the Budget position was revised through in-year monitoring rounds from revised departmental spending plans. I can only guess how many Budget Bills I have spoken to in the House since I came here in 2016, but this year has been the first time that we have had no opportunity to look at the position, and, sadly, the Secretary of State has decided not to disclose the amounts. <BR /> <BR />In keeping its head above water, the Department for Communities has not been able publish and progress its range of social strategies.”
“While I am pleased to see that there has been an increase in the departmental expenditure limit of £15·5 million, there is a decrease in net resources for capital purposes of £10·5 million. Annually managed expenditure, otherwise known as "AME", has increased for net current purposes and net capital purposes, enabling, in this financial year, the payment of social security and other benefits, grants, loans, allowances and payments to people of working age, pensioners and people with disabilities and their carers, in accordance with the prevailing legislation and regulations. Put simply, it is money that comes across from Westminster, because Westminster sets the amounts.”
“The Department also has expenditure and services including grants, loans, compensation, benefits such as special rules for terminal illness, discretionary support grants and loans, collection of debts, provision of youth and adult employment services and the various strategies that promote and protect socially excluded groups. It is a huge remit that requires a substantial level of investment to meet the needs of the Northern Ireland community.”
“<BR /> <BR />Through the work of the Committee for Communities, I see at first hand the level of deprivation that a lack of appropriate investment creates. I thank the many front-line workers and citizens who have spoken to me about how hard it is for those on the lowest income across Northern Ireland. Members will have read in pages 8 and 9 of schedule 1 to the Budget Bill the breadth of the Communities remit and how expenditure arises. All will be delighted to hear that I will not repeat that huge list, as published, but, for the record, the Department for Communities pays the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the Northern Ireland Library Authority, National Museums and Galleries Northern Ireland, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Sport NI, the Charity Commission, the Commissioner for Older People and many more.”
“Alliance has led the way in that regard, and it is welcome that the Fiscal Council acknowledged that argument in its most recent publication. I thank my colleague Eóin Tennyson MLA for his expertise and ongoing work in that area. <BR /> <BR />With the Executive restored, we have a stronger collective position from which to negotiate. As I have said before in the House, we should not look to put a ceiling on our ambitions for Northern Ireland, but we need to draw a baseline to ensure that people here no longer receive less investment than their counterparts in the rest of the UK. I accept that the UK is in a challenging financial period because of the impact of austerity, Brexit and cuts to public spending, but I do not believe that Northern Ireland should pay the price for the Conservatives' inability to deliver a fair Budget.”
“Indeed, the proposed 124% needs-based adjustment operates more as a fiscal ceiling than as a fiscal floor, slowly returning us to a point to which we should not have been allowed to fall in the first place. It is inconceivable that the UK Government would wilfully continue to underfund Northern Ireland on that basis. We are asking not for special treatment but for a fair funding settlement that is equitable with other parts of the UK. Fairer treatment will allow the Executive and the House to aim to meet the needs of citizens across my constituency of Strangford and across Northern Ireland. There are strong arguments that, accounting properly for justice needs and to deliver climate objectives, the fiscal floor should be at least 127%.”
“During the past year, the cost to provide temporary accommodation for the rising number of people in housing crisis meant that the ability to invest in prevention of homelessness is nowhere near what any of us would want it to be. The Department for Communities has just about kept its head above water. <BR /> <BR />Northern Ireland can no longer afford to have such harmful single-year Budgets. This has to be the last year in which we have a Budget Bill for a single year. It reflects a lack of investment in our citizens. Northern Ireland is the only devolved region that has seen funding below relative need, as evidenced by the Fiscal Council. It is significant that the UK Government have now conceded that key principle.”
“For example, during the past year, the Department for Communities has not had enough money to start building the target number of new social homes, leaving more than 45,500 people in housing stress, which the Chair of the Committee for Communities, Colm Gildernew, referenced. During the past year, we have had a reduction in the money available for discretionary support and discretionary housing payments. More people are living in poverty, as confirmed in the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) 'Northern Ireland Poverty and Income Inequality Report, 2021-22' headline figures, which show that 16% of individuals are living in relative poverty and 13% in absolute poverty. That is a disgrace. Cutting support to such vulnerable people cannot continue into next year.”
“While they are welcome, the additional amounts outlined simply patch over the fractures caused by a lack of sustainable finance. While all politicians from every party would like to debate how we are meeting need, the stark fact of the Budget Bill is that, over the past year, the most vulnerable continue to be left behind. During and immediately after COVID, Northern Ireland received additional moneys to cope with the pandemic. With the end of the pandemic came the end of significant levels of related resourcing, but we have not returned simply to pre-pandemic levels of financial support. The level of funding provided to Northern Ireland and specifically to the Department for Communities is not meeting need.”
“I ask all the Members of the House what Northern Ireland would look like if we had no funded community and voluntary sector. We would be in trouble. The concordat agreement with the community and voluntary sector is moot. Unless and until we have a sustainable Executive and Assembly, those working in the community and voluntary sector and our key partners will have no faith in this place or its commitment to meeting the needs of the community. I support reforms whereby we will never again come to the House at the eleventh hour to debate finances in this way. By updating the processes of the House, we could at last give everyone who has been elected to the House an equal vote and end the vetoes. <BR /> <BR />The Budget adds nothing new to the Department for Communities.”
“Every day, I hear from organisations that work in partnership with the Department for Communities to deliver support for people who are in receipt of benefits or in housing stress, as well as for our sports and arts sectors, local government and those who work in other areas within the remit of the Department for Communities. Those people speak as one: they all need an end to single-year Budgets. <BR /> <BR />The lack of clarity about this year's Budget and future years' financial priorities has a negative impact on many of our arm's-length bodies and key partners, including those in the community and voluntary sector. We see many skilled people leaving the sector because they can no longer live under the pressure of an uncertain future.”
“<BR /> <BR />I acknowledge the extremely pressurised environment in which the Department of Finance staff — indeed, finance staff across all Departments — have worked over the last number of years, and I sympathise with them. As the Alliance spokesperson for communities, I have attended meetings with the permanent secretary, Colum Boyle, and his finance staff on several occasions. I thank them for their work and recognise the level of stress that they have endured while aiming to deliver the impossible task of meeting needs, political objectives and priorities in the context of an increasingly restrictive financial position. <BR /> <BR />The figures in the Budget Bill reflect the fact that we are again discussing a single-year Budget.”
“I welcome Dr Caoimhe Archibald to her post and wish her well in it. Having sat through a long debate, I note well the Minister's perseverance. <BR /> <BR />As has been reiterated by Members in this Budget Bill debate, the legislation provides legal cover for expenditure in 2023-24 — the current financial year — and reflects spending that has already occurred or that will occur in the first half of the new financial year. The 2023-24 financial paper must be viewed against the backdrop of the lack of an Executive and the role that the Secretary of State and the Northern Ireland Office have played in the Budget allocation for this year, without monitoring rounds or transparency in relation to how much of the previous year's overspend has been repaid. That has led us to where we are today.”
“Thanks very much to the Member for giving way. The Member was talking about additional resources, and one of the key things for Irish-medium schools is the lack of exam papers, because they are not even produced for those children. Does the Member agree that we need to put investment into their exams as well?”
“In Northern Ireland, we have a growing private fertility system on which families spend thousands of pounds to access treatment that is available elsewhere in the UK where NICE guidelines are delivered. <BR /> <BR />If we are to provide a fair and equitable health service that will deliver for women, we have to consider why, here in Northern Ireland, it is acceptable for women to have to look to private healthcare providers as their only option for treatment. Minister, I will hold you to your word. I hope to see a women's health strategy in this mandate.”
“Therefore, I back a call to have a women's health strategy that will, at long last, provide a plan to invest in resources, including training for health professionals. <BR /> <BR />Lastly, I wish to address a matter that is very close to my heart, and that is miscarriage and fertility treatment. For many people in Northern Ireland, fertility is not simple or easy. I have never hidden the fact that I have been through miscarriages and IVF, and it was painful in so many ways. A key element of any women's health strategy has to be access to fertility specialists and support, as well as support for women following loss during and soon after pregnancy. Like menopause, fertility support is very limited in our health service. For many, health treatment is not free at the point of use.”
“Believe me, some of the most disappointing comments that I have heard about menopause have come from younger female health professionals and other women in the workplace. BUPA confirmed, as part of the Westminster inquiry, that almost one million women have left their jobs because of menopausal symptoms. Given that women have the menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, that is the time when many people reach the peak of their careers. Therefore, by not having a specific menopause strategy delivered through Health, we are sidelining some of the most incredible and skilled people in our workforce at a time when Northern Ireland can least afford to have people not in work and lose such skilled personnel.”
“The strategy should include research into the broader benefits of testosterone for women, and resourced menopause clinics must be available in each trust area for every women. To be honest, however, I would prefer that there were a specialist in each GP practice so that all women could get access. <BR /> <BR />I know that the health system is financially broke, but women are being broken because our health service is not meeting their needs. Many older women like me feel disrespected, ignored and demeaned by a health system that considers many of us to be an annoyance rather than key members of society. I can still imagine the eye-rolls when I phone up to get my HRT prescription. <BR /> <BR />The Women and Equalities Committee in Westminster confirmed that women felt that there was:”
“Thank you. I absolutely agree. I will talk about how many women of my age choose to leave work because of symptoms. <BR /> <BR />Menopause — including surgical menopause, which many people forget to mention — is life-changing and has an impact on many areas of a women's life, including her physical and mental health. There is an impact on her finances, and there is a proven negative impact on her employment and relationships. A funded women's health strategy must make provision for services that support menopausal women. That needs to include mandatory training for GPs, given that so many women have had to turn to private healthcare just to access treatment. GPs should be instructed to prescribe medicines that have been recommended by private practice.”
“In Northern Ireland, women deserve the same level of commitment from this Government as other women have had in other parts of the UK. <BR /> <BR />My colleagues outlined different key actions that should be included in a women's health strategy, but, as an older woman in this place, I have experience of matters on which I hope that the Minister will listen to me and take seriously. I thank him for attending Órlaithí Flynn's menopause event, at which he wore the MenoVest. I only wish that he had it on now in order to feel how warm it is in the Chamber. It is one of the symptoms that some of us who have been through menopause have suffered.”
“Congratulations on your role in the Chair, Mr Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />Today, we are talking about a women's health strategy. Minister, I know that a motion is a motion and that you do not have to act on it, but I hope that you listen. You said previously that a women's health strategy was within your thinking, which I welcome. Scotland has had its women's health plan since 2021, England has had its women's health strategy since summer 2022, and Wales has had its 'Foundations for a Women's Health Plan' report since November 2022, so I hope that we can take forward a women's health strategy. Any strategy needs to run in time for budgets, which could be a constraint that we will have on this. As others mentioned, it is important that we have a fully funded women's health strategy.”
“— leave Northern Ireland. Minister, can you help with that?”
“With over 45,500 people in Northern Ireland languishing on the Housing Executive's waiting list, it is beyond time that we have more money pumped into housing to enable housing planning to come forward a lot quicker. <BR /> <BR />Housing, building and all those wonderful things that are impacted on by planning do have an economic impact across our communities. There is an economic protection role to play. If we look at economic development, and I am thinking about colleagues on the Committee for the Economy and the Minister for the Economy, I am watching construction workers —”
“I imagine that it will be for the Communities Minister to take forward. However, without that housing outcome, what are we going to say in the Programme for Government when it comes to building? Not everything is about housing, but I sit on the Committee for Communities, and housing is a big part of what I am interested in. When I look at the issues for housing when it comes to planning, I see delays and no prioritisation for social housing. We do not even have targets through the local development plans or in local council areas for social planning. When the motion talks about older people and people with disabilities, as it should, we should add the need for social housing across Northern Ireland.”
“I would like to see something done about statutory consultees. <BR /> <BR />Others have mentioned local development plans. Honestly. On 1 April 2015, this place handed over planning to our council colleagues, and they have worked so hard. However, since 1 April 2015, two local development plans have been introduced in Northern Ireland. Why is it taking so long? I seriously ask that the Minister considers putting a time limit on them. Our rural and urban communities deserve to see those plans. <BR /> <BR />There is another issue. The motion mentions the Programme for Government, and I remind all in the House that, in 'New Decade, New Approach', we agreed to a housing outcome in the next Programme for Government. That has not been put into play, and I have seen no system that outlines what that housing outcome will be.”
“<BR /> <BR />As others have said, there needs to be reform of the planning system. I am not going to kick all the planners out there because many of us have colleagues who are councillors and sit on planning committees. They do what they can with the tools that they are provided with. It is quite simple: the tools are not good enough. Statutory consultees are my bugbear with anything to do with planning. I believe, as was said by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, that mandatory time frames for responses should be brought forward, and that if those statutory consultees — perhaps, Minister, you will consider this — do not respond by a certain date or within x number of weeks, it is presumed that they have given approval, and the responsibility lies with them and not with the Department.”
“The decision was taken that it was not contrary to the regional planning strategy, Planning Policy Statement 16 (PPS16), as the proposal did not safeguard a tourism asset and did not damage rural tourism. That aquarium has never come forward: 2021 and 2022 have passed, and that aquarium still has not been built. The Northern Ireland Aquarium or Exploris is still in place. If that aquarium is built, you may as well wipe out tourism on the Ards peninsula because the four-year closure of the aquarium by Ards and North Down Borough Council had a massive impact, but that was not taken into consideration. As an outcome of today's debate on the motion, Minister, I ask that you look at the major development rules, especially with regard to rural areas and seriously consider any negative impacts.”
“However, I agree that there has to be some sort of reform that allows for things like wind turbines, solar panels and heat pumps, which I see being turned down on a regular basis for goodness' sake, in rural areas. I am very lucky to be a coastal dweller, and I want to see more offshore and tidal options for energy being brought on board. <BR /> <BR />Coming back to the motion, while the Minister is in the House, I want to talk very quickly about major developments. I have a concern about major developments, and this is in the Minister's remit. Previously, a decision was taken by the Department not to call in a major development, namely an aquarium that was going to be built in the Titanic area of Belfast. Why would that concern me? I live in Strangford, and the Ards peninsula has the Northern Ireland Aquarium, now known as Exploris.”
“The joy in coming in so late in a debate means that a lot of what you had planned to say has already been said. I just want to reiterate a few things. Thanks, of course to all those who made their maiden speech. I was a lot more cowardly than you, as I have already said, in that I made my maiden speech during a debate on legislation so that I did not have to worry about the time. Well done to all, and to the new Chair of the Committee for Infrastructure, Mrs Erskine, thank you for bringing this motion forward. <BR /> <BR />Like other Members, I am concerned about some of the wording. As a rural dweller, I do not want a free-for-all in building in my community.”
“Bobbing up and down today is like my normal journey down the Ards peninsula where you are up and down like a yo-yo. I welcome the Minister to his post. <BR /> <BR />I will follow on from Dr Aiken and ask the Minister to review the impact that utility companies have on our roads. Will he consider increasing from 10% the Department for Infrastructure's inspection rate of reinstated roads within the warranty period? Will he also consider extending the warranty period from two years to four years in order to give the utility companies enough time to repair the roads that they have dug up?”
“That is the clear message from the whole House. Prime Minister, I ask you to come back with a response that shows us that you respect people who live in Northern Ireland as much as you respect your constituents.”
“— and it has been signed by our official Opposition —”
“<BR /> <BR />Many Members who have spoken today have made the argument very strongly, and I thank them all for that. It is important to say to the public that, yes, we have not been in this place for a very long time, but I hope that you take heart from this collegiate approach of parties that are committed to coming together to make a very strong and clear message to Prime Minister Sunak that we need support and we need investment. We will take forward transformation and we will make reforms, but we need him to come to the plate. We also need his party to realise just exactly how important people in Northern Ireland are and to meet their needs. <BR /> <BR />To that end, I reiterate the call of the motion:”
“<BR /> <BR />I remind the House that, while we know all of that, we also know that the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove MP, handed money back to the Treasury because he could not spend it. In 2022-23, his Department underspent on the affordable housing programme by £600 million. What could we have done with that money had we been included? That is why we say this to the Westminster Government: £3·3 billion is a fantastic starting point — thank you so much — but we need a realistic fiscal floor that can meet the needs of people here in Northern Ireland. If we do not get that, is the Prime Minister saying that people here are not worth it? We are. We deserve better. Our people deserve better. We deserve not just pay parity but equal societal parity with people who live elsewhere in the United Kingdom.”
“<BR /> <BR />Without capital investment here — the lack of enough capital investment is outlined in the letter from the Executive to the Prime Minister — Northern Ireland Water's limitations in respect of our water and sewerage system will be an impediment to house building. None of us can forget, "No drains, no cranes". Why is this so important? Without appropriate housing, children do not achieve as much in education, people live in poverty and people have poorer health and well-being outcomes. We have a society that is struggling with the cost of living. We have people who are heading towards extreme poverty because 30% of their income is being spent on rent. That is only one of the problems that we have as a collective House.”
“In Westminster, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 enshrines into law Westminster's long-term commitment to regeneration through the speeding up of the planning system and the removal of bureaucracy to enable the building of new homes while undertaking a series of major reforms across the built and natural environment. Here, in Northern Ireland, according to figures provided by the Northern Ireland housing bulletin, we have 45,500 people in housing stress. We have 2,605 people who are deemed as homeless. That is not something to be proud of, but it is something that we need money to help resolve.”