To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any steps they will take to ensure that policy delivery closes the gap between stated ambition and lived experience, as highlighted in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report entitled, Disability and poverty in Northern Ireland.

The Executive’s Anti-Poverty Strategy sets out the NI Executive’s commitment to a joined up, long-term work to reduce socio-economic disadvantage and for everyone affected, including Deaf and disabled people. My officials are currently working on taking forward any further development of the Strategy before it is finalised and presented to the Executive for their consideration.

This will complement and support the development and implementation of both an Executive Disability Strategy, and a Disability and Work Strategy, which will help address the barriers and inequalities that impact upon the lives of Deaf and disabled people. This includes those at economic disadvantage as referenced in the Disability and Poverty in Northern Ireland report. Drafts of both Strategies have undergone public consultation to ensure that the voices of Deaf and disabled people are given the fullest consideration.

Aligned to these Strategies, initiatives such as the Pathways to Work and Wellbeing Transformation Project offer key opportunities to help more disabled people and people with health conditions to find and progress in employment.

We will continue to seek to include the voices and experiences of people with disabilities throughout the lifespan of the Anti-Poverty Strategy.