'Clock Ticking' On NI Welfare Reform

UK Work and Pensions Minister Mike Penning has warned that the clock is 'already ticking' with regards to Northern Ireland's implementation of welfare reforms.

The minister arrived at Stormont today to renew pressure on the Executive to pass its Welfare Reform Bill.

He said Stormont faces a penalty charge of £5m a month from January if the legislation is not passed.

It is thought that the Bill has not been brought before Stormont because it is being blocked by Sinn Féin.

Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland, who is overseeing welfare reforms in Northern Ireland, said: "For months I have been attempting to bring forward a Bill. Sinn Féin has blocked each attempt.

"Indeed, at last Thursday's Executive meeting I again raised this issue and sought to bring the Bill forward. The only delay in bringing this Bill to the Assembly floor is Sinn Féin's foot-dragging."

Ulster Unionist Social Development spokesperson Michael Copeland said: "Mike Penning today accused local politicians of burying their heads in the sand regarding Welfare Reform but the fact is that the Ulster Unionist Party has been calling on the Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland to bring the Welfare Bill to the Assembly for months now.

"We have a list of amendments which – if accepted - will improve the Welfare Reform Bill, but we still await Nelson McCausland bringing the Bill before the Assembly. Only Sinn Féin and the DUP can explain why this has not happened.

"Neither of their representatives who spoke on radio today seems to be able to explain the reasons for the delay in bringing this important piece of legislation forward yet these are the two parties which the majority of voters placed their trust in."

The SDLP has opposed the reform measures.

West Belfast SDLP MLA Alex Attwood said: "Reason one to keep campaigning is that welfare reform is making the poorest people poorer. Its impact creates debt, hunger, fear and stress. The Youth Contract in Britain has missed every target for helping people find work. All of this sends a clear message – too much of welfare reform is bad for people and the most vulnerable of people. This is why the parties here should not be 'bounced' by Mike Penning and Treasury.

"Reason two to keep campaigning is that London resists facing up to the different circumstances in Northern Ireland. The bedroom tax is a folly that would hurt most in the North due to the segregated character of housing and smaller percentage of single bed homes. This reality won't go away, whatever London wishes.

"Mike Penning is over here telling all of us 'to jump' or suffer the consequences. When I spoke to him as DOE Minister that was his view on the closure of the DVA in Coleraine – yet that campaign continues and gathers strength. There is a lesson in all of that – it is dig deep, negotiate harder, do not concede ground."

(IT/JP)