Assembly to rush through Welfare Bill

A wide-ranging Welfare Reform Bill is to be rushed through the Northern Assembly today.

The Welfare Reform Bill will mirror legislation already passed at Westminster and ensure that the benefits system in the North remains in synch with Britain.

It will introduce a new employment and support allowance to replace incapacity benefit to enable recipients to remain or return to work, outline new measures to tackle benefit fraud and clarify the laws surrounding disability allowance and attendance allowance.

The Assembly's Social Development Committee agreed to the accelerated passage of the Welfare Reform Bill following a request from minister Margaret Ritchie.

However they gave their backing to rush the Bill after receiving assurances from the minister that a controversial clause which would see housing allowances paid to tenants in the private rented sector rather than to landlords would not be implemented without them being consulted first.

Ms Ritchie (SDLP, South Down) told the committee: "I am aware of the concerns of the committee and I want to work with the committee.

"I have concerns myself about this aspect of the legislation because I do not want people to fall into debt and there may be subsequent issues of homelessness and debt.

"It is a matter of social justice. So I will want to proceed carefully. I would to assess how it is operating in Britain before going back to yourselves."

The Social Development Minister told the committee the Bill needed to be rushed through Stormont to maintain parity with the benefits system in Britain.

"There are many, many reasons to maintain parity," she explained.

"Because we have the same system, the Department of Social Development and the Department of Work and Pensions in London share the same computer system.

"If we were to consider breaking parity, as well as picking up additional costs we would have to pick up costs of a new computer system."