£3.7m Boost for Homelessness Services In Northern Ireland

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has announced an additional £3.7 million to support homelessness services in Northern Ireland. The funding will be used to help people experiencing homelessness and prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place.

The Minister also announced an additional £3 million to support the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's service delivery.

Mr Lyons emphasised the need for a collective effort to tackle the growing issue of homelessness. He said: "Everyone needs a secure and safe place to call home. I share the ambition in this motion to make homelessness brief, rare and non-recurrent."

The Minister continued: "Everyone needs a secure and safe place to call home. I share the ambition in this motion to make homelessness brief, rare and non-recurrent

"Homelessness Awareness Week highlights the reality of homelessness in Northern Ireland.

"The theme for this year is 'Time for Change', and I could not agree more with that sentiment. I have said before that we must be radical in our approach to homelessness, seeking innovative solutions to problems and thinking of different ways to respond to need.

"The events taking place during this week play a vital role in highlighting the reality of homelessness in Northern Ireland. Only through education and outreach will we be able to properly recognise the challenges and start to dismantle the stigma associated with homelessness. "We need to make the strategic shift to the prevention of homelessness, and that remains my ambition. However, this will take time, and our short-term focus must continue to be supporting those currently in crisis.

"I recognise the growing demand, as the level of need continues to rise beyond the services provided. But I am determined to bring forward measures which will pro-actively address the issues we face.

"Funding has to be a central strand of this. I secured an additional £3.7m in October Monitoring to tackle homelessness. This will allow the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to provide certainty of funding for the remainder of the year to their third sector partners who deliver valuable services for people who are homeless.

"While I have yet to receive my budget for next year, I will ensure that NIHE is able to continue to give providers that same level of certainty by specifically allocating part of its budget allocation for such work.

"But it is clear that our approach has to be wider than funding alone.

"I hope to publish the Housing Supply Strategy imminently and, in doing so, announce new measures which be creative in terms of both investment and innovative steps.

"But this has to be a collective goal. I look forward to working with other departments and our sectoral partners in a co-ordinated and effective way."

The Minister acknowledged those who are involved – at all levels – in services to address homelessness.

He added: "I want to put on record my thanks to Homeless Connect, and each of the organisations across the sector, for the work they do each and every day to support some of the most vulnerable in our society.

"Voluntary and community organisations across the homelessness sector make an invaluable, and sometimes lifesaving, contribution to the lives of people across Northern Ireland."