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Speaking today after a heated meeting of the Regional Development Committee at which Margaret Ritchie outlined the difficulties she faced in solving Social Housing problems with her limited budget, UUP Regional Development Spokesman and North Belfast MLA Fred Cobain said in a statement,

“I agreed with the Minister that the draft budget was woefully inadequate in a field which the Executive identified as a priority - housing.

This budget is the worst budget for housing I have seen in the last number of years. The number of people presenting themselves as homeless is going to increase because this budget does not address that. You have to conclude that is deliberate.

We need to tackle poverty at a number of roots. Social Housing provision must continue to grow. It is estimated that Northern Ireland needs between 2000-2500 new houses to meet the growing numbers of homeless people. The Department of Social Development is building just 600

The Housing Executive is not to wholly to blame given their tight financial constraints, the root cause, I believe, is decades of under-investment by successive governments.

One of life’s most basic rights is a decent place to live. Currently to a great many people this is a right that is denied to them. The draft Budget does not do enough to start tackling the problem. If the draft budget stays at is I can foresee the sight of a great many more homeless people on the streets of Northern Ireland and all the efficiency savings and other DUP and Sinn Fein buzzwords won’t be able to change that.

Priorities are in fact not priorities. An example: under the last Executive the OFMDFM budget was £32m – under Peter Robinson’s Draft Budget it has risen to £73.9m. That says all we need to know about priorities.“

Ulster Unionist Chairman of Regional Development Committee and North Belfast MLA today said that no green light could be given to the Regional Development Minister’s report advocating water taxes while so many fundamentally important questions remained unanswered.

Mr Cobain also re-iterated his personal opposition to taxing people for water.

In an Assembly speech during a debate on the Independent’s Water Review Panel’s Strand One Report, Mr Cobain said,

“I represent a large, working class constituency in North Belfast, where thousands of families fall within the economically challenged bracket. At the last Assembly election, like many other MLAs in the House I gave an undertaking that I would not support the introduction of a water tax in this mandate, for precisely the reasons that I have just outlined: I refuse to make ten of thousands of people poorer than they already are.

An acceptance of this tax, even with a substantial affordability tariff, will do just that.

Until we establish the most basic of facts on who would be taxed and who won’t be, what provisions are being made to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are offered protection from falling into further debt, how any bills will be handled, who will be responsible for collection and the method of assessment whether it be based on rateable values or not, it would be madness to proceed.

At the moment we don’t even know the answers to these most basic yet fundamentally important questions. Until these questions are answered fully and comprehensively we would be doing a disservice to the people of Northern Ireland by giving any approval or giving the impression that this Report is a basis for a fair and equitable charge on water.

So it is clear that there are still huge questions to be answered and much more work to be done before those that are advocating a water tax can be given the green light to do so.”

Ulster Unionist Regional Development spokesman Fred Cobain today raised his objections to Minister Conor Murphy’s proposals on water charges. The North Belfast MLA said he could not support any moves which saw every household in Northern Ireland paying, in some shape or other, for water.

In a statement Mr Cobain said,

“Thousands of the poorest and most vulnerable pensioners, working poor and near benefit-level families will all be worse off after today’s statement and will feel cheated that the right noises that Sinn Fein and others were making before the election with regards to water charges have been brushed under the carpet.

The DUP promised a financial package that would offset water charges, their leader pledged and committed himself to securing a financial package and indeed sought and secured a mandate to do so. They didn’t deliver and now in cahoots with Sinn Fein Minister Murphy we are now seeing water charges being brought up for discussion with a view to eventual implementation.

I cannot and will not support water charges that will hit the most vulnerable and needy in society.”

Ulster Unionist Social Development spokesman and North Belfast MLA Fred Cobain today supported Assembly moves calling on the Minister for Social Development to legislate for the mandatory registration of all landlords in the private sector.

In a statement Mr Cobain said,

“The case for registration is self-evident. The numbers of people living in the private rented sector has grown steadily over the last decade primarily because of our inability to satisfy the housing need in the public sector.

As an example many of the housing studies clearly show a need to build between 2000-2500 housing units each year in the public sector in order to meet housing demand.

In 2008 we are planning to build and complete 600 new homes in the public sector. That in no way addresses the need and obviously will drive a number of additional families into the private rental sector. We already have 80,000 homes in the private rental sector which represents over 11% of our total housing stock.

There are a number of issues specific to the private rented sector.

In 2001 the level of unfitness in the private rented sector was in the region of 9% and although this figure had fallen to almost 6% by 2004 it was still higher than the overall unfitness level in Northern Ireland. The fact that this sector provides accommodation for the most vulnerable, has sector of 80000 houses, has unfitness levels higher than the overall average makes the case for compulsory registration.

No one wants to penalise landlords in any way. Instead we need to work with and encourage landlords to improve housing conditions and standards.

I believe that the registration scheme would be an ideal vehicle to achieve these ends.”

Speaking ahead of a debate on child poverty tomorrow, Ulster Unionist Social Development spokesman Fred Cobain said that in order to tackle and eradicate child poverty, an overall targeted approach to tackling overall poverty was needed.

Mr Cobain said that target dates for the reduction and eventual eradication by 2020 of Child Poverty were ambitious without attempts to tackle issues such as Social Housing, Education and Community renewal projects.

In a statement Mr Cobain said,

“The people of Northern Ireland were hoping that with Direct Rule Ministers away, the Assembly and Executive would begin tackling important issues, such as child poverty. So far we have had heard all the usual platitudes and well meaning rhetoric, with little or no difference being felt on the ground.

Tackling child poverty is not something that can be done in isolation, it is entwined in a plethora of social problems. We need to tackle poverty at a number of roots. Social Housing provision must continue to grow. It is estimated that Northern Ireland needs between 2000-2500 new houses to meet the growing numbers of homeless people. The Department of Social Development is building just 600.

We need to give breaks to the working poor, not cripple them with more rates or water charges, we need to inject meaningful funds into education, targeting areas of disadvantage.

Without a dedicated strategy to tackle the roots of poverty I fear that the target to reduce child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it by 2020 are nothing more than a utopian fantasy, being discussed without any real thought and without any contextual map.”

Plans by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to reduce the minimum wage for Northern Ireland and other UK regions will be totally opposed by the Ulster Unionist Party, according to the Party’s Social Justice spokesperson, Fred Cobain MLA. According to senior Labour Party sources quoted in the national media, Prime Minister Brown is seeking to reduce the present minimum wage of £5.35 an hour to £4.84 in Wales, £4.80 in Northern Ireland and £4.78 in the North-East.

Mr. Cobain said, “the minimum wage was introduced as New Labour’s flagship policy. In 2005, when Tony Blair raised the minimum wage he declared, ‘this will benefit 1.4 million people … and it is a powerful symbol of how this country is changing for the good’. Now his successor is seeking to undo this by penalising those in low-wage jobs outside of London. The minimum wage is a powerful way of making sure work pays - of sending out the signal that our society supports those who take the decision to work. Gordon Brown’s plans to reduce the minimum wage will hit hard-working individuals and families throughout the regions of the United Kingdom.

“We all know that Northern Ireland - like some other UK regions - has unacceptably high levels of economic inactivity. In other words, we need to be getting people into work. Just how are we meant to be doing this when the Prime Minister is planning to ensure that work doesn’t pay? Getting people off welfare and into employment is good for them, good for local communities and good for our economy. It beggars belief, then, that Gordon Brown should be considering doing the exact opposite by penalising work”.

Welcoming today’s publication of the Consumer Council’s Report on consumer views of water reform and water charges, Ulster Unionist Chair of the Regional Development Committee, Fred Cobain MLA, has urged the Northern Ireland Assembly to robustly scrutinise any alternative brought forward by the Executive.

Mr Cobain said: “The Consumer Council are to be congratulated for this important contribution to the debate on how we find a fairer way forward for the reform of water and sewerage services. As Chair of the Regional Development Committee, I particularly note the Report’s findings that public trust and confidence in the reform process has been eroded under Direct Rule.

“This is precisely why I am 100% committed to ensuring that openness and transparency are restored to the process. The purpose of devolution is to restore accountability to government and administration in Northern Ireland. Devolution must then be allowed to make a real difference to the water reform process. The Executive must not merely roll-over and accept the unacceptable – the Direct Rule water charge proposals.”

Ulster Unionist Consumer Affairs Spokesperson, Leslie Cree MLA, pointed to the Report’s findings that consumers want fairness in water reform.

Mr Cree said: “There can be no doubt about it. Consumers, families and communities across Northern Ireland know that the Direct Rule water charge proposals – based on the capital value of a home – are inherently unfair. The Regional Development Minister and the Executive must recognise that the people of Northern Ireland do not want capital value to play a role in determining how we as a society invest in our water services. The Consumer Council Report sets out the issues that must be addressed by the Executive”.

Ulster Unionists have today put a motion down in the Assembly Chamber calling on the Social Development Minister to review the fuel poverty strategy – with a special emphasis on pensioner households and households with children.

Speaking after participating in the Assembly debate, Ulster Unionist Social Development Spokesperson Fred Cobain MLA said: “Fuel poverty continues to blight far too many homes across Northern Ireland. As a society, we all lose out because of fuel poverty – not least because of the costs associated with the poorer health brought on by fuel poverty. With 20% of pensioners living in fuel poverty, DSD’s strategy must be reviewed to ensure that strategy’s goal of eradicating fuel poverty by 2016 does not become yet another missed target.”

Roy Beggs MLA, the Ulster Unionist Spokesperson for Children and Families, praising the work of fuel poverty advocacy group National Energy Action, called for a more robust approach by DSD.

He said: “Both in Scotland and England, innovative schemes are in place that must be examined as possible options for Northern Ireland. We cannot be complacent about the 2016 target for eradication of fuel poverty and where lessons are to be learnt from other UK regions, they should be learnt”.

Mr Beggs also drew attention to the needs of families with children

“It is estimated that 25,000 children in Northern Ireland lives in homes that are not adequately heated,” he said.

“In a fair and just society, the lives of children should not blighted by cold and damp homes. A review of DSD’s strategy must ensure that families with children are lifted out of fuel poverty.”

Ulster Unionist North Belfast MLA Fred Cobain today responded to the UVF/RHC stand-down statement.

Mr Cobain said,

“The UUP has been working for a long time to see the winding down of loyalist paramilitaries and the disposal of their weapons. We welcome the decision of the UVF/RHC not to continue as a paramilitary organisation, to fully support the lawful authorities and to condemn criminality. While we do not know what precisely is meant by the statement in relation to weapons, we have consistently urged engagement with the IICD as the only way of dealing finally with this issue. We will await a response from the IICD and hope that General de Chastelain will soon be able to publish an inventory of all weapons disposed of from all organisations. In the meantime we hope it signals the destruction of materials of war so that they cannot again be used to inflict harm.

We are now seeing the endgame for all loyalist paramilitaries and mainstream republicans and this will be welcomed by the people who have suffered for many years as a result of conflict. While it is important that the UVF statement did refer to ..’abject and true remorse to all innocent victims of the conflict.’ there will be many today grieving for relatives who suffered over the years.

We must work with renewed vigour to ensure that such conflict is never again visited on our country, and today’s statement must be seen as a positive contribution to a new beginning for Northern Ireland. It remains now for dissident republicans to realise that their cause is hopeless and wind down their organisations in accordance with the wishes of the people.”

Ulster Unionists have said that the idea being floated by the DUP on a joint group with Sinn Fein on parades is more fanciful than actual – and has more to do with some individuals trying to bank easy political capital.

UUP MLA Fred Cobain and UUP Parades Spokesperson Michael Copeland have said that the key to unlocking progress on the parades issue is local accommodation.

In a statement, Mr Cobain said: “At the moment, from what I understand, Willie Hay is off on a solo run.

“The idea reportedly being floated is potentially harmful for all involved. The DUP’s demand for a ‘holistic, comprehensive approach’ with Sinn Fein clearly implies two-way political negotiations – another crude carve-up. The DUP seem intent on elevating the issue into another high-stakes gambit. Precisely the opposite of what is necessary.

“The key to progress is facilitating local accommodation and dialogue between groups directly involved on the ground. For example, the North & West Belfast Parades Forum have done a lot of good work in recent years. We need to assist that work, rather than bypass and undermine it.”

Mr Copeland said: “The object must be to increase goodwill and achieve a peaceful and positive resolution to all these issues.

“For some time now, I have been calling for all parties to urgently adopt at a collective approach. The emphasis is on inclusion – what the DUP propose seemingly excludes all but Sinn Fein.

“We should be encouraging and facilitating dialogue and consensus between the key stakeholders. Political representatives should do all they can to assist. But they mustn’t use people as political pawns and attempt to present them with a fait accompli.”