I make a plea to the Minister and the Department for Communities to allocate their budget wisely to ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in Northern Ireland are prioritised. I appreciate that the budget will be incredibly challenging for Communities this year and that it will require difficult choices to be made. One option that the Minister may consider is to cut the Supporting People programme budget. That would be a mistake. The Minister has described Supporting People as a fantastic programme, and he is right. Supporting People provides invaluable housing support to people in need across this society. As the response to a question for written answer that I tabled illustrated, the baseline budget for Supporting People has been held flat over the past decade. Inflation has eroded the value of the fund year-on-year.

A survey sent to the Committee for Communities by the Committee Representing Independent Supporting People Providers (CRISPP) illustrated that many Supporting People-funded providers are deeply concerned about their financial situation. If services feel that, due to a lack of funding, they have no option other than to hand back contracts or reduce the vital services they provide, that will have consequences that will be borne by the people who need those services and by the Housing Executive. Cutting the Supporting People programme will be a false economy that will only exacerbate problems in other statutory services such as education, health and justice. The truth is that the Supporting People programme is in real need of additional funding to meet rising inflationary needs.

When the Minister for Communities is considering where to make allocations, he needs to prioritise meeting need and ensure that the Supporting People programme has the resources it needs to deliver for the most vulnerable in our society. It is vital, when taking difficult budget decisions, that the Minister for Communities and all Ministers ensure that decisions are compatible and do not result in people who are homeless, who have disabilities or who are suffering the most from poverty carrying the consequences.