To ask the Minister for Communities to detail (i) the poverty statistics in the South Antrim constituency in the last five years; and (ii) what his Department is doing to reduce these figures.

Official measures of absolute and relative poverty for NI are derived from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). Both measures can be presented on a before and after housing costs basis. Due to the uncertainty around estimates at lower levels, the Department does not present results for poverty at Parliamentary Constituency level.

I am focused on working with my Executive colleagues, and meeting with sectoral delivery partners and key stakeholders, to develop a sustainable, deliverable Anti-Poverty Strategy which addresses the issues that make a tangible difference to people’s lives.

I am currently considering the next steps to be taken in developing the Strategy and I am committed to delivering long-term, sustainable solutions to poverty in all its forms right across Northern Ireland.