AQO 7953/11-15

Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 26/03/2015
Answered On Date: 20/04/2015
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Finance and Personnel for his assessment of the impact of delays, and any potential additional cost, caused by the failure to agree the Final Stage of the Welfare Reform Bill.

Answer:

Should the Welfare Reform Bill fail to pass through the NI Assembly, the £114 million reduction set out by Her Majesty’s Treasury will apply in full to the Northern Ireland Executive’s Budget in 2015-16.

HM Treasury have not indicated the level of reductions beyond 2015-16 however Social Security Agency (SSA) estimates of the foregone UK Exchequer savings of not implementing welfare reform in Northern Ireland are significant and will increase in the coming years reaching £366 million in 2018-19.

In addition to the Resource DEL reductions applied by HM Treasury non-implementation will also lead to significant capital costs associated with developing a bespoke IT system for Northern Ireland.

Failure to proceed with the Welfare Reform Bill will also put at risk the other aspects of the financial package agreed under the Stormont House Agreement.