Is Northern Ireland's welfare policy effective?

We want to hear your views on the impact of Universal Credit and the two child benefit limit in Northern Ireland

Purpose of our inquiry

In 2016, the Northern Ireland Executive established a social security 'mitigation' package – £585m of welfare funding to help ease the impact of policies such as the bedroom tax and the benefit cap.

However, in 2020 this funding deal is due to end and there is no Northern Ireland Executive in place to secure any future welfare funding settlement.

Our joint inquiry will examine the potential impact of the spending ending in 2020 and look at how Northern Ireland's welfare policy and funding is serving the people of Northern Ireland.

Universal Credit

Universal Credit is the new welfare system designed to combine benefits into a single payment.

This inquiry will draw on the Work and Pensions Committee's previous work on how Universal Credit is working, including:

• the six-week wait;
• natural and managed migration;
• its effect on groups such as victims of domestic abuse and disabled people.

We will also look at the effectiveness of 'alternative payment arrangements' which enable claimants to spread payments throughout the month, or get payments split between members of their household.

Two-child limit

The Government's two-child limit policy states that families can't claim child benefits for any third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017. We will consider the impact of this policy in Northern Ireland.

The Work and Pensions Committee previously found that Northern Ireland has the highest proportion of families who would be affected by the two-child limit, with over half of benefit-claiming families in NI having two or more children. 

Nigel Mills MP will be chairing the joint inquiry.

Questions to consider

1. What has been the impact of the NI Executive social security 'mitigation package'?
2. What would be the likely effects of the mitigation package coming to an end in 2020?
3. What, if anything, should replace the mitigation package from 2020?
4. What are the effects of having higher levels of welfare entitlement in Northern Ireland? Is it feasible for Northern Ireland to have differing levels of welfare entitlement in the long term?
5. How well is Universal Credit working in Northern Ireland? Are there issues with Universal Credit that are specific to Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the UK?
6. Do people in Northern Ireland benefit from the flexibility to have Universal Credit paid at a different frequency or with split payments?
7. What is the impact of the two-child limit on families in Northern Ireland?
8. Do social housing tenants in Northern Ireland (including NIHE tenants) regularly experience rent arrears? What are the reasons for this? What level of deductions do tenants face to pay back arrears?

The deadline for responses is
Friday 24 May 2019

Submit your views using our online portal

Instructions on how to submit your evidence to the Committee
are available

Anyone can submit written evidence as long as the submission is clear, concise, addresses the questions asked and is not already published elsewhere.

Your submissions will inform the questions that we will put to experts and Ministers in both UK Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

This is your chance to help inform the government and policy makers.

We are the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, 13 MPs from different political parties.

 Find out more about Northern Ireland inquiries. Follow us on Twitter using @CommonsNIAC

We are the Work and Pensions Select Committee, 11 MPs from different political parties.

Find out more about Work and Pensions inquiries. Follow us on Twitter using @CommonsWorkPen