Party policy summary: welfare reform
Welfare reform will have a major impact on housing over the coming years. The Bill is now approaching its consideration stage in the Assembly. agendaNi summarises the parties’ approaches.
DUP
Minister: Nelson McCausland MLA
Assembly Private Secretary: William Humphrey MLA
Assembly Spokesman: Gregory Campbell MP MLA
Westminster Spokesman: Ian Paisley Junior MP
In its 2010 manifesto, the DUP supported welfare reform provided that it increased employment, helped the most vulnerable in society and increased benefits for older people and those with long-term illnesses. This would include a rise in the winter fuel payment and its extension to cancer patients.
The party’s Assembly manifesto pledged to oppose any attempts to breach parity, and implement “logical” reforms that simplify the system and help people move into work. The automatic payment of benefits would also be piloted; this is now available for winter fuel payments.
DUP MPs voted with Labour to oppose most of the Coalition Government’s proposals but supported the cap on housing benefit. Ian Paisley Junior claimed that just one household in Northern Ireland would be affected by the cap but Nelson McCausland subsequently indicated that the real number would be up to 3,400.
The party then followed parity and introduced the Welfare Reform Bill in the Assembly last October.
McCausland has obtained several concessions from the UK Government on housing benefit e.g. exemptions for foster carers and military families from the under-occupancy charge (bedroom tax), fortnightly payments, continued direct payments to landlords, and split payments between two householders.
Sinn Féin
Assembly Spokesman: Mickey Brady MLA
Oireachtas Spokesman: Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD
Sinn Féin’s key objective is to oppose the “agenda of cuts” introduced by the Coalition Government’s welfare reform policy. Maintaining the status quo would involve breaking parity with Britain. The party claims that shortfall could be made up within the block grant and through new tax-raising powers. It opposed the Welfare Reform Bill at its second stage.
In its 2010 manifesto, Sinn Féin called for carer’s allowance to be designated as a standalone benefit and backed winter fuel payments to cancer sufferers. The party wants to keep increases to benefits in line with inflation (as opposed to the 1 per cent cap).
In the Republic, Sinn Féin’s manifesto commitments include an increase in employers’ social insurance contributions, restoring the welfare budget to 2010 levels, and allowing returning Irish migrants to claim benefits.
UUP
Spokesman: Michael Copeland MLA
The UUP shared the Conservative platform on welfare reform in the 2010 UCUNF manifesto. This was no longer binding after the pact was dissolved. In its 2011 Assembly manifesto, the UUP called for benefit uptake programmes to continue and said that automatic payment should be “seriously considered”.
Under Mike Nesbitt, a former UCUNF candidate, UUP policy has been critical of welfare reform, claiming that it would have “vastly different” outcomes in Northern Ireland than in Britain. This change is influenced by Michael Copeland, whose views are left of centre. However, it did support the Bill so that amendments could be made in the later stages.
The party welcomes the UK Government’s concessions to Nelson McCausland. It wants to remove the under-occupancy charge. The Department for Social Development claims that this would cost £17 million but this is disputed by the UUP.
SDLP
Spokesman:
Mark H Durkan MLA
The SDLP voted against the Welfare Reform Bill but accepts some elements of reform e.g. simplifying the system and tailored support for job seekers. The party opposes means-testing and wants the Executive to work collectively to mitigate the impact of the changes. The SDLP held the social development brief between 2007 and 2011. Its ministers, Margaret Ritchie and Alex Attwood, ‘stretched’ parity by making administrative changes to protect vulnerable claimants and lobbied the UK Government for more flexibility. Attwood also proposed the Social Protection Fund, which is used to provide hardship payments.
Alliance
Spokeswoman: Judith Cochrane MLA
According to Alliance, sanctions should not be used to move people from welfare to work as these take no account of household circumstances or the local labour market. Party policies include retaining attendance allowance and prosecuting all benefit fraud in court. Alliance strongly defended parity in its Westminster manifesto. “Given the much smaller tax base in Northern Ireland together with higher poverty and unemployment, this arrangement is very much to our advantage,” it stated. “Any local decisions to vary this would be reckless.”
Greens
The Greens support a large welfare state, based on the Scandinavian model, and MLA Steven Agnew voted against the Welfare Reform Bill. Agnew previously worked for the Simon Community and has suggested that the Assembly breaks parity over the under-occupancy penalty.
UKIP
UKIP supports parity and the universal credit system. Child benefit would only be available for the first three children in a family. Benefits would be restricted to UK citizens and others (including Irish citizens) who have lived in the UK for at least five years. David McNarry wants to extend carer’s allowance to state pensioners.
TUV
Jim Allister strongly backs parity in taxes and benefits. He has pointed out that devolving taxation will reduce the block grant and sees the current funding arrangements as the fairest system for benefit claimants.
