To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any assessment his Department has made of the impact of short-term funding cycles on the delivery and evaluation of homelessness prevention services.

This issue is an operational matter for Northern Ireland Housing Executive, they have advised me as follows:

“The Housing Executive recognises the challenges caused by short-term funding cycles on the delivery and evaluation of homelessness prevention services.

The Housing Executive regularly engages with providers in receipt of funding and while we acknowledge their commitment to ensuring service objectives, the Housing Executive recognises that short-term funding causes particular difficulties in sustainability of staffing arrangements where short-term funding impacts on the length of contracts that providers may be able to offer.

The Housing Executive will continue to work with providers to provide as much engagement and assurance as practically possible in the context of wider funding challenges.”