To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any preventative expenditure and investment measures being considering as part of his departmental budget planning for the 2025-26 financial year.

Heavily constrained, single-year budgets severely limit my Department’s ability to consider longer term preventative expenditure and investment measures. Efficiencies have however been progressed to live within Budget, including rationalising my Department’s office estate and exiting four Belfast office buildings to provide recurrent savings, and progressing the transformation of Health Assessments for welfare benefits which longer term will also provide savings. Work is also ongoing on an Asset Management Strategy for my Department, and input has been provided to inform the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland (ISNI).

My Department has submitted both 2024-25 In-Year and Budget 2025-26 requirements and will continue to ensure its expenditure and investment plans make best use of public funds. This includes seeking to secure additional funding in key areas, such as investment in New Build Social Homes and Homelessness Prevention measures, which if secured at a meaningful level with help tackle homelessness in a sustainable manner and drive down the amount spent annually on temporary accommodation.

Additional funding has been provided to the Supporting People programme in 2024-25 in recognition of the invaluable support to vulnerable people and the important work of these schemes in preventing additional demands on budgets elsewhere, particularly health and justice.