Stormont urged not to cut grant funding further

The Stormont Agreement, finalised on 23 December, allows the Northern Ireland Executive £1.9bn additional funding powers as a condition of implementing  the Westminster government’s reforms, including the bedroom tax.

It allows the NIE to redirect money from unspecified ‘normally ring-fenced capital budgets’ totalling £900m to plug a shortfall caused by the Northern Ireland’s failure to implement the changes by the end of 2016/17.

This has sparked fears in the social housing sector that the NIE will seek approval from the Northern Ireland Assembly to cut the Department for Social Development’s (DSD) budget for social housing grant, currently £98m in the draft budget for 2015/16, to pay for the welfare reform fund.

Justin Cartwright, policy advisor at the Chartered Institute of Housing Northern Ireland, said: ‘We’re clear that social housing grant levels must be maintained.

‘We’re beginning to get comments from political representatives that a system will be put in place, perhaps similar to Scotland, to mitigate welfare reform – the CIH welcomes this.

‘I don’t think it’s a choice between one or the other. But the money does have to come from somewhere.’

Cameron Watt, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA), said: ‘In the draft DSD budget there was already a reduction in the social housing target from 2,000 to 1,500 homes.

‘The biggest threat for us right now is a further raiding of the budget for new homes.’

The failure to implement welfare reform in Northern Ireland, due to political resistance, created a £114m shortfall in the draft budget for 2015/16.

The DSD will work on the welfare fund plans, including where the cash will come from, with the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFPNI), ahead of the budget expected later this month. The plans need to be agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly. A DSD spokesperson said minister Mervyn Storey’s ‘priorities demonstrate that the Supporting People and social housing development programme budgets are to be protected.’