AQW 2583/16-21

Mr Cathal Boylan
Sinn Féin
Newry and Armagh

Tabled Date: 07/09/2016
Answered On Date: 14/09/2016
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities for his assessment on the (i) delivery; and (ii) relocation of welfare reform services.

Answer:

I am committed to having a strong regional based network of offices and the Department confirms its commitment to continue to progress a programme of modernisation and continuous improvement aimed at enhancing accessibility to services and the quality of local offices.

The Working Age Services local office network currently consists of 39 local offices, delivering a high level of customer service.

Universal Credit will be delivered from 3 Service Centres based in Newry, Londonderry and Belfast and work is ongoing to finalise the Department’s Universal Credit Service Delivery Model and rollout plans.

Discretionary Support and Short Term Benefit Advances will provide support in a financial crisis. This will be a telephony-based service delivered from Antrim and Dungannon Jobs & Benefits offices.

Financial Support in other times of need that is Budgeting Loans, Sure Start Maternity Grants, Funeral Payments and cold weather payments will continue as part of the new Finance Support service. These services will be consolidated into a single central processing centre in Lisburn Jobs & Benefits office.

The processing of claims for Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support and the provision of telephony services to Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support claimants is currently delivered from 11 Benefit Processing Centres located in Jobs and Benefits Offices at Andersonstown, Armagh, Ballymena, Coleraine, Dungannon, Enniskillen, Foyle, Holywood Road, Lurgan, Magherafelt and Newry. In preparation for the delivery of the changes to the benefits system a review is currently underway to determine the restructuring of the Income Support and Jobseekers Allowance Benefit Processing Centres.

The outcomes of the review are likely to be known in the near future. We expect the end state models to consist of a reduced number of Benefit Processing Centres in a functionalised business structure preparing the way for Universal Credit.

The Department needs to strike a balance between meeting the needs of claimants and those of staff and in order to safeguard service delivery to claimants it is sometimes necessary to relocate staff to ensure that services can continue to be delivered in an efficient and effective manner.