AQW 2916/16-21

Mr Andy Allen MBE
Ulster Unionist Party
East Belfast

Tabled Date: 13/09/2016
Answered On Date: 21/09/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to outline what work his Department has or intends to undertake to examine the impact of Welfare Reform post mitigation.

Answer:

As part of the Fresh Start Agreement, the approach agreed by the main political parties in Northern Ireland to implement welfare reform, there was a commitment to review welfare arrangements in 2018-19.

Department for Communities officials have now developed and refined a composite Welfare Reform evaluation strategy. This strategy has been designed to specifically evaluate each of the key reforms as well as the associated mitigations. It will be central in assessing and monitoring the impacts of Welfare Reform in Northern Ireland and will help to inform implementation and future strategy.