Nelson McCausland loses post in reshuffle
Nelson McCausland has lost his post as Northern Ireland’s social development minister in a cabinet reshuffle.
Mr McCausland will be replaced by Mervyn Storey, Northern Ireland’s first minister, Peter Robinson announced this week.
The Department for Social Development has responsibility for housing policy in Northern Ireland - including managing the country’s 90,000-home Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), regulating social landlords and allocating development grant.
The reshuffle follows a year of increasing pressure for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) minister, who had come under fire for his handling of alleged overspending on repairs and maintenance contracts by the NIHE.
Mr Storey, also a DUP assembly member, has not previously held a ministerial post.
Cameron Watt, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, tweeted: ‘Congratulations Mervyn Storey on appointment as Social Development Minister and thanks to Nelson McCausland for contribution to social housing.’
