AQW 46257/22-27

Ms Connie Egan
Alliance Party
North Down

Tabled Date: 14/05/2026
Answered On Date: 06/08/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any work his Department has undertaken to address poverty in North Down, since the adjournment debate on the topic on 9 December 2025.

Answer:

My Department has invested over £8m to address poverty in North Down in the current financial year and continues to deliver a broad range of supports through employment, advice, housing and energy-efficiency measures.

Funding information is held and reported at council district level. Investment in the Ards and North Down Borough Council area includes:

£517,364 to Labour Market Partnership in 2025/26.

£175,000 for the Integrated Advice Partnership Fund (2024-2027).

£135,000 for Social Supermarket projects in 2025/26.

£500,000 through the Affordable Warmth Scheme in 2025/26, supporting 50 grants to help tackle fuel poverty.

£1 million in Home Improvement Grants in 2025/26, supporting 91 homes and 133 energy efficiency measures.

£6.4 million Supporting People funding towards 1,431 accommodation-based support units in 2025/26.

Planned for Housing Executive insulation schemes for 367 dwellings in Bangor and Holywood, with a further 105 dwellings benefiting from retrofit schemes to improve energy efficiency and reduce household heating costs.

More broadly, work is ongoing to launch the £100 Home Heating Oil Payment in summer 2026. The Anti-Poverty Strategy Summary of Public Consultation report was published in April 2026, with work continuing to finalise the Anti-Poverty Strategy and Action Plan in the coming months.