Welfare Reform

The Northern Ireland Affairs and Work and Pensions Committee have announced a joint inquiry into welfare policy in Northern Ireland. This inquiry will follow the passage of the NI Budget Act and the upcoming end of the welfare reform mitgation package in March 2020.

Focus of the enquiry

The inquiry will consider

Our Housing Advice in Prisons services helps people in Maghaberry, Magilligan and Hydebank who are newly committed and those who are preparing for release to deal with their housing issues. One of the major issues that housing advisers who work in this service face at the moment is the way in which Universal Credit deals with the housing costs of prisoners.

The Department for Communities has published results of its survey of the attitudes of people who currently claim benefits towards welfare reform. This report establishes a baseline  for future research the Department will carry out into experiences and attitudes of welfare reform and are part of a wider ongoing evaluation of welfare reform, which is being carried out by the Department. 

Our experience as a housing advice organisation is increasingly evidencing the devastating housing impact of welfare reform. We therefore welcome the finding by the NIAO  in its Welfare Reform Report 2019 that welfare reforms in Northern Ireland are ‘likely to have a major impact on housing’.