Ciara Ferguson
Foyle · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“<BR /> <BR />The Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill instructs the commissioner's office to prepare a strategic plan as soon as reasonably practicable after their appointment to review the effectiveness of the Victim Charter and the Witness Charter at least every three years and to provide annual business plans and reports.”
“Sinn Féin very much welcomes the fact that the Bill is the continued evolution of that work to strengthen the rights of victims and witnesses of crime, including the right of complainants to an opportunity to make oral or written representations to the court about any application, to be present at any hearing of the application and to be…”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill will strengthen protections for complainants in serious sexual offence cases in which pretrial applications for a witness summons are made.”
“It is important because being a victim or a witness of crime is often a traumatic experience that requires dedicated support to recover from. It is important because all victims and witnesses of crime should be subject to a fair and supportive legal system that fully engages with them.”
“Victims and witnesses of crime are entitled to be treated fairly, professionally and with respect in all their interactions with the justice system; to be kept regularly updated, including being provided with relevant information in a timely fashion; and to have their needs considered.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak at Second Stage of the Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill. I will begin by acknowledging the importance of the Bill in placing the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses of Crime and that office and its functions on a permanent statutory footing.”
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“That was very much welcomed by the arts and creative sector in the Foyle constituency, by such groups as Greater Shantallow Community Arts, the Derry Theatre Trust, the Walled City Music Trust, the Centre for Contemporary Art, In Your Space Circus Ltd, the North West Carnival Initiative, the North West Cultural Partnership, the Nerve Centre, Void arts centre, the Verbal Arts Centre and the Waterside Theatre Company. I must name them, because it is important to thank them for the critical work that they have been doing in our city in the most difficult of circumstances.”
“As interim Minister, Carál was able to secure £29 million of the £33 million of arts and heritage funding that came our way from Britain from the Barnett formula for the arts, culture, language and heritage. That financial support was vital in stabilising organisations, preventing many from closing. For example, of the £5·5 million that was set aside for the creative support fund, £1·5 million went to individuals and small to medium-sized organisations, while £4 million went to musicians, freelancers and arts and culture venues. <BR /> <BR />In February of this year, under the stability and renewal programme for organisations, a further £10 million of funding was offered to 168 arts and creative organisations to stabilise the sector.”
“She knew immediately to instruct the Arts Council here to ensure that 50% of the £12·9 million in annual core grants given to it by the Department was paid up front to support over 100 key organisations in the sectors.”
“As we know, over 1 million people visited the city of Derry in my constituency in 2013 during the City of Culture. Arguably, no sectors were hit harder than the arts and creative industries. The necessary measures in response to COVID-19 meant that our cultural events and venues were the first to close and amongst the last to reopen. Many of those employed in the sector were self-employed, and many also relied on our hospitality sector to ensure income. Many practically lost their income overnight. <BR /> <BR />When the outbreak of COVID came about in March 2020, our Minister for Communities, Deirdre Hargey, proactively engaged with, listened and responded to the ongoing needs of the arts and creative industries. She values the sectors.”
“I welcome the motion that has been brought forward by Mr Nesbitt, and I welcome the opportunity to support it. We are indebted to all of the individuals and organisations across the arts and creative industries sectors; over the past 18 months, those people, despite the stress and uncertainty that they faced about the future, kept spirits high for so many through tough and difficult times. <BR /> <BR />The arts and creative industries sectors in all of their forms bring people together. They help individuals and communities to connect, develop relationships and create vibrant experiences. They encourage self-expression, improves mental health and well-being, enriches and supports education, builds skills and supports the economy to prosper, which strengthens the position of the North as a must-go destination.”
“For every week without progress, our constituents remain impacted by it, not just those who currently have to pay the Tory tax but those who remain in their property, because they know that, if they move, even to a smaller property, they will fall foul of the tax if the smaller property has an extra bedroom. That is not acceptable. <BR /> <BR />I implore those who sit around the Executive table to ensure that this proposal is tabled and to support the binning of the bedroom tax. I commend the Minister for Communities for her continued efforts on the matter, and I commend such organisations as the Cliff Edge Coalition, which has been tireless in its campaign on this. I welcome the opportunity to put my support for binning the bedroom tax firmly on the record.”
“I take this opportunity to highlight the continued delay at the Executive in bringing forward for discussion the legislation prepared by the Communities Minister to ensure that the bedroom tax is not implemented here. The bedroom tax is yet another heartless Tory tax aimed at the most vulnerable. Therefore, most reasonable people would agree that binning it, once and for all, would be a hugely positive move for the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />Shortly after coming into post, Minister Hargey gave her commitment to do just that. She has prepared the necessary legislation, secured the budget lines and repeatedly brought it to the Executive for approval. However, to date, it remains stalled, with no explanation.”
“It is vital that rail connectivity is improved in the north-west to begin to end regional inequalities and to unlock the potential of the area. Will the Minister give an update on the ongoing studies that are considering a half-hourly service on the Derry line as well as the additional halts at Ballykelly, Strathfoyle and the City of Derry Airport and say whether the report is still due in November?”
“Once again, we are left to deal with austerity, cuts and regressive policies conceived and imposed on us against our will by the British Tories in London.”
“<BR /> <BR />We must continue to stand together, demand a complete U-turn on the decision and argue for the need to strengthen the support that universal credit offers, not weaken it. I call, as my colleagues did last week in the Assembly, for the Tory Government to wake up, to acknowledge the increasing hardship that our families on low incomes face and to reverse the decision. Twenty pounds a week may not be much for those in Westminster who make such decisions, but it can make the difference between eating and heating for so many people. The Tory Government's decision will have a negative impact not only on our most vulnerable families but on our local economy as we struggle to get back on our feet and make our way out of the restrictions.”
“Boris Johnson and the Tory Government have always pushed poverty and benefits to the margins. They have no understanding of what the cut will mean for individuals, families and communities, and I do not think that they really care. Add in the rise in energy prices, the recently announced increase in National Insurance contributions, the rising cost of living and the end of furlough, and we see that the Tory Government have created a cost-of-living crisis in the North. As we know, it is always particularly tough over the winter. People struggle during that period every year. I know that local support groups and charities will do what they can in our communities, but it will be a tough winter for a lot of people.”
“In the past five or six years, we have been inundated with support for our communities and our food banks from organisations such as FareShare, Barnardo's and Children in Need and from local businesses . Moreover, every year for the past six or seven years, most of the communities in which I work in the North have seen the reality of holiday hunger. Poverty and child poverty rates, particularly in my Foyle constituency, where poverty levels are already among the highest in the North, have increased and will continue to increase. <BR /> <BR />The Minister has to be commended, and the Foyle community in which I work really has to commend her for prioritising the anti-poverty strategy. I know that the community has been working closely with departmental officials to progress that.”
“<BR /> <BR />The additional £20 a week applied to universal credit and working tax credit as part of the response to the COVID crisis was required long before the pandemic began. Like community workers, social workers, welfare rights workers and teachers, I am fully aware that most people could never make their universal credit last, let alone without a further £80 a month. As in many other constituencies across the North, my constituency has seen the number of food banks rise for well over a decade. Since 2010, in the outer north area of the city, where I worked for 20 years, we have been working closely with the four Churches and the Churches Trust to provide food parcels to our most vulnerable.”
“In this day and age, no one should have to choose between putting the heating on, putting food on the table and paying their rent, but that is the reality for so many of our families right now. <BR /> <BR />This is outright recklessness by the Tory Government. Their notion that people can make up the £20 that they are about to cut by working an extra two hours a week shows a real lack of understanding of how wages and universal credit interact. It also totally ignores childcare and its availability in our communities. They assume that everyone can work, has a job and can increase their hours. When 40% of people on universal credit already work really hard, the Tory Government's "Back to work" mantra is downright foolish.”
“What stopping the weekly £20 universal credit uplift payment will mean for lives already upturned by the pandemic hardly needs explaining to Members. The decision by Boris Johnson and the Tory Government to withdraw support from the poorest in our society will increase hardship and poverty for people who already struggle. It will have a devastating impact on people in the North at a time when they need financial support most. <BR /> <BR />In the Foyle constituency in September, over 7,500 constituents were claiming universal credit. That is the highest number of people across all our jobs and benefits offices and an awful lot of people who, I sense, will seriously struggle and will have to make difficult decisions.”
“It deserves more affordable social homes to address the stark and growing housing waiting list, more support to strengthen our small indigenous businesses and social enterprises and improved access to health services, particularly mental health services. It is only through collective responsibility at the Executive that we can deliver for Foyle and the North.”
“I agree with the previous contributor; as local MLAs in Foyle, we must work together collectively, just as the Executive must do, in order to retain the universal credit uplift. I also agree with others that the Foyle constituency deserves much better. We all need to work harder together to break the cycle of poverty and inequality in order to give people a real chance for a better life. <BR /> <BR />The Foyle constituency rightly deserves investment in infrastructure, such as the upgrade to Buncrana Road; more apprenticeships, particularly for our young people who are at risk; and jobs, jobs and more jobs.”
“To the people in Westminster who make those decisions, £20 per week may not be much, but it can be the difference between eating and heating for so many families. In January, without the support of our local Minister and the Department, I had to support 500 families within three weeks in one district electoral area (DEA) in the Foyle constituency. That shows you the extent of the need and support that is required in our city. <BR /> <BR />Over the past number of months, we have all heard from many people about just what the cut will mean. We can all foresee the negative impact not only for individuals and families but for the local economy, which we know is struggling to get back on its feet.”
“That is the second-highest rate in the North and is just behind North Belfast, where it is 6·8%, and it is higher than West Belfast, where it is 6·5%. The Tory Government need to wake up, acknowledge the increasing hardship facing our families on low income and recognise the difficult winter months we are all heading into. The social and human consequences of Tory policies are clear. Poverty and child poverty rates will increase and continue and continue to increase, particularly in Foyle, where poverty levels are already amongst the highest in the North. Twenty pounds per week may not be much to —.”
“Even Thérèse Coffey's comments about how people can work an extra two hours a week to make up the £20 that is about to be cut show a real lack of understanding of how wages and universal credit interact and of the cost and availability of childcare. It also assumes that everyone is able to work, that they have a job, that it is a well-paid job and that they are able to increase their hours. <BR /> <BR />The Tory Government have been oblivious to the high rates of disability not only in the North but in our city and to limiting long-term illnesses, especially those in mental health, and the current claimant count. For example, in the Foyle constituency, there are 4,380 people claiming universal credit, which is a rate of 6·6%.”
“The decision to increase universal credit and working tax credit was surely an acknowledgement by the British Government that the previous rates were not adequate to live on. What is it that they think has changed? I, like you, am baffled. <BR /> <BR />For many years, we have increasingly found that low-income families and the working poor require assistance at food banks and the provision of fuel vouchers and clothes and furniture from charity shops. I have worked in that field for 20 years, and this is not new; it is ongoing under the Tory Government. I have worked with food banks, family support hubs, social supermarkets, local charities, Fareshare and a range of organisations that have been working tirelessly in our communities in the North, particularly in Foyle.”
“Now, we see this expected cut coming at the same time as the recently announced increase in national insurance contributions, the rise in energy costs, the rise in the cost of living and the end of furlough. I agree that it is so short-sighted, and it is typical of Westminster. <BR /> <BR />Let us be honest: while the additional £20 per week applied to universal credit and working tax credit as part of the response to the COVID crisis was welcome, there is no doubt that, at the time, there was an injustice because it was not, despite repeated calls, extended to people who receive similar legacy benefits. Furthermore, as we all know here, the financial assistance was required long before the pandemic began.”
“It is clear that, once again, Boris Johnson and the Tory Government have taken a couldn't-care-less attitude to our most vulnerable individuals and families, not only in Foyle but across the North. These are Tory cuts that will, once again, make life worse for our most vulnerable groups. These regressive cuts by Westminster will not just hit our low-income and working-poor individuals and families hardest; they will hit women, young people and the minority ethnic communities hardest too. <BR /> <BR />Over the years, our most vulnerable have faced relentless cuts and freezes to the rates of their social security payments by Westminster and, of course, the introduction of the abhorrent two-child rule.”
“Today, I invite Members to reiterate that opposition in light of the latest announcement by PayPal. I also invite Members who championed Brexit and continue to oppose the protections provided by the protocol to reflect on the folly of that position now that, every day, more and more of the real-life consequences for families, workers and businesses are becoming clear.”
“I would like to speak about the ongoing concerns about online transaction fees. PayPal is the latest company to announce a hike in online transaction fees, with similar increases from Visa and MasterCard due to come into effect within weeks. That will see huge increases in fees for EU card transactions, which has a particular impact here, given our reliance on North/South trade. It is yet another direct cost and consequence of Brexit. Brexit facilitated the credit card rip-off by removing the EU's consumer protections. If it goes ahead, ordinary families and workers will once again pay the price whilst multinational companies will reap the rewards. <BR /> <BR />The Assembly has already made clear its opposition by endorsing the Sinn Féin motion opposing the hikes.”
“I thank the Minister for the update on the future of the COVID emergency measures. What is the Minister's assessment of the impact of the British Government's cuts on the COVID financial measures, including the furlough scheme and the universal credit uplift?”
“In the meantime, however, we have a job to do to ensure that the legislation is done in the best possible way, in order to give greater protections to our most vulnerable and to ensure that our gambling industry comes up to speed with technological advancements.”
“That will enable the Minister and her Department to issue and publish one or more codes of practice on the manner in which gambling facilities are provided. That will ensure greater scrutiny of the industry and mean that the vulnerable are not exploited. <BR /> <BR />It is clear that many in the House would like to see more radical reform, but we fully understand what the Minister said about bringing through what is possible and realistic in this mandate. We also welcome the Minister's statement that there will be a next phase, after this phase has been introduced, that will include more radical proposals. We look forward to getting stuck into them when the time comes.”
“That is extremely important, especially with so many of those groups being impacted by COVID, but it is just one step in coming up to speed with the technological advancements in modern society. <BR /> <BR />On the specifics of the Bill, it was great to hear the Minister reinforcing the point that, when the Bill passes, it will be not the end of the reform of our outdated gambling legislation but simply the beginning. We welcome all proposals, and I will not touch on them all at this stage as we will have plenty of time at further stages to get into greater detail on the clauses. I welcome the work of the Minister and her Department on the introduction of a new article on codes of practice.”
“The consultation closed back in February 2020, and a report was published in November 2020. The Minister for Communities' decision to reform our gambling legislation in a two-phased approach is the smart and correct way to go about this. The Minister and her Department plan to deliver tangible changes to around 16 key areas, including greater protection for children and young people, powers to impose a statutory levy on gambling operators and mandatory codes of practice, among other key recommendations. The Minister recently announced that she is changing legislation to allow local voluntary and community groups, along with clubs, to raise vital funds by selling lottery tickets online.”
“That document sets out the key recommendations and proposals on how to tackle the growing issue. It looked at specific issues, some of which are being debated today and others that hopefully will be discussed in the not-so-distant future. The recommendations in that document included tackling the issue of fixed-odds betting terminals; greater protection for children and young people, especially from online gambling, advertising, sponsorship and promotions; and the issue of casinos, to name but a few. Those recommendations and proposals will allow for greater protections to be introduced to protect the most vulnerable in our society. <BR /> <BR />As the Minister said, our current gambling legislation is extremely complex and outdated and requires a lot of reform, as seen with the interest in the consultation.”
“We can and must do better, not only to support those who suffer from a gambling addiction but to make strident efforts to reduce the number of individuals who may be affected in the future. That is why we in Sinn Féin welcome this extremely important legislation that has been tabled by the Communities Minister. We also recognise and acknowledge the endeavours of previous Ministers to bring about the imperative reform of our gambling legislation. That reform has not been achieved, which is why we must ensure that the reforms in the Bill are implemented as soon as possible. <BR /> <BR />A special mention must go to my colleague Sinéad Ennis MLA for her commitment to ensuring that we see change to the outdated legislation. In 2019, Sinéad, along with our colleagues in the South, launched the party's all-Ireland document on problem gambling.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for the chance to speak at the Second Stage debate of this important Bill. First, it is important to acknowledge that many people — approximately two thirds of people in the North — enjoy gambling and that most do so responsibly. Sinn Féin is not seeking to take that enjoyment away from anyone, but we understand that, for some people and their families, gambling can become a serious problem and, more often than not, lead to heartbreak and pain for many individuals, families and communities. <BR /> <BR />In 2016, the gambling prevalence survey — the second of its kind here since 2010 — reported that 2·3% of respondents deemed themselves to be problem gamblers. That is obviously a high number, as has been mentioned: it is over four times that in England, three times that in Scotland and twice that in Wales.”
“What has been the level of engagement between the sector and councils on the subregional stadia programme for soccer?”
“<BR /> <BR />Tenants in the private rented sector often pay their rental costs while having to save for a deposit so that they can move to another property. Oftentimes, that is not a decision of their own making. By limiting the deposit to no more than one month's rent, we would not only help to protect the accessibility of the private rented sector but help to ensure that people are not being faced with extortionate deposits to secure property or being locked out of the private rented sector when prevented financially from accessing further housing tenures.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill, which is aimed at providing good, safe and secure housing, will ultimately amend the 2006 Order and provide private rented sector residents with better protections in relation to their tenancies, such as receipts for payments made in cash and documents covering the detail of tenancy agreements. Indeed, a fundamental aspect of the legislation, which, as we know, is just one part of a much larger housing revitalisation work programme, is about ensuring that legal limits are placed on tenancy deposit amounts, alongside restricting rent increases to once per annum. Private rented sector tenants will no longer have to worry that they could face unexpected rental increases in each annual term of a tenancy agreement.”
“Indeed, in the North, 45% of single parents live in the private rented sector, and one out of every two private rented sector residents require financial support through housing benefit or universal credit to meet their housing costs. <BR /> <BR />In the current economic climate and given the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must do all that we can to improve protections for our most vulnerable. The right to a good, affordable and secure home is a foundational human right that upholds all aspects of health outcomes for our children and young people and families, educational attainment levels, suitability for work, childcare, social cohesion and so much more. It is fundamental that that is delivered in the private rented sector.”
“<BR /> <BR />As someone who worked in housing with the Housing Executive while studying housing at Ulster University's Magee campus and as someone who lived in private rented accommodation as a student and as a parent raising three young children in the 1990s, I very much welcome the introduction of the Private Tenancies Bill, which aims to improve standards and enhance conditions for tenants who live in the private rented sector. As we know, that is the second-largest housing tenure in the North after owner-occupation. <BR /> <BR />As we also know, the private rented sector has been expanding rapidly in recent years, and it is made up of an increasing number of families, elderly people, those who have retired, people with disabilities or ill health, carers and other vulnerable groups.”
“Thank you, Deputy Speaker. It is a great honour to rise in the Assembly this afternoon and give my maiden speech as a representative for the Foyle constituency. <BR /> <BR />I take the opportunity to pay tribute to my formidable predecessor, Martina Anderson. While working in the fields of research, community development and regeneration in the city, I have always admired Martina's tenacity, commitment and devotion to improving the lives of residents. That is not lost on me or the constituents of Foyle. It is a privilege to carry on her mandate, and I pledge today, like Martina, to the best of my ability, to help to deliver better outcomes for all the people in my constituency.”
“Will the First Minister confirm that the public health advice will be core to directing and guiding the Executive's future response to the management of the pandemic?”