Welfare cuts opposed
Alex Attwood will oppose welfare reform but unionists have questioned at what cost to Northern Ireland?
Alex Attwood has told the Assembly he will oppose cuts to housing benefit for those on jobseekers allowance for more than one year. The measure was announced by the UK Government as part of its plan to cut the overall welfare budget by £18 billion.
Under the reforms, introduced by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, unemployed workers who continually refuse job offers would be banned from claiming benefits.
Speaking at Stormont, the Minister claimed that the Coalition Government’s proposed welfare cuts would leave more than 22,000 people in Northern Ireland on reduced housing benefit.
He said that many of those forced back into work will have “few skills or experience” and little prospect of finding a post. The MLA added that plans to reassess incapacity benefit claimants could mean some will be switched to out- of-work allowances.
“While social security is a devolved matter, we are constrained by funding issues and the principle of parity, which sees an annual net flow of money into Northern Ireland measured in millions of pounds,” Attwood commented.
He said it would be “thoughtless folly” if he took action that put those in need in an even worse position.
While the Minister said he would support those capable of working getting back into work, he argued that the proposed “four-week programme is not the sustained, structured, personalised, long- term approach that is needed.”
At present, Northern Ireland receives more than £3 billion annually from the Treasury to fund its welfare system so that the benefits are in line with the rest of the UK.
The DUP’s Simon Hamilton, who chairs the Assembly’s Social Development Committee, agreed that welfare cuts would hit many local families hard. He said afterwards in a statement: “They [the UK Government] have already ripped over £10 billion out of the welfare budget in ways which will undoubtedly do damage to some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”
While he welcomed proposals to get people back into work, he opposed the UK Government’s “crude cuts which they try to dress up as reforms”.
However, he said that resisting the cuts could mean the Executive having to “pick up the tab” for Northern Ireland’s entire social security bill. He warned that the province cannot afford to jeopardise the handout from London by “recklessly opposing” welfare reform.
“Such irresponsibility could result in putting already heard pressed families under even more pressure,” he noted.
Following Hamilton’s comments, SDLP social development spokeswoman Mary Bradley said it was a surprise that Hamilton criticised the Minister for resisting cuts in housing benefit when he had backed him in the Assembly.
Attwood said he would continue to negotiate with London but will also look at how his department and the Executive can help further. He commented: “Indeed, I will be forwarding a ‘remedies’ paper to the Executive, recommending Executive- funded ways to help those in need and lessen the impact of benefit cuts.”
Meanwhile, Employment Minister Danny Kennedy welcomed the proposals on welfare reform: “We need to get serious about addressing the economic and social impact of long-term unemployment and inter-generational worklessness,” he remarked.
