I beg to move

That the Benefit Cap (Annual Limit) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 be approved.

The Business Committee has agreed that there should be no time limit on the debate. I call on the Minister to open the debate on the motion.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The statutory rule that we are considering is the most recent in a series of confirmatory procedure statutory rules that effect an increase in the benefit cap levels in Northern Ireland by 10·1% from April 2023 in line with the rest of the United Kingdom. The regulations amend the rates in the Welfare Reform and Work (Northern Ireland) Order 2016, the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 and the Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.

The increase in the annual benefit cap limit was to ensure that all households would see an increase in their benefit following the benefit upgrading from April 2023 in line with the CPI. The cap increased from £20,000 to £22,020 a year for couples and lone parents, and from £13,400 to £14,753 for single people. The rates apply across the United Kingdom with the exception of households living in greater London, which are subject to higher limits. The increase enables households to receive benefits up to the value of gross earnings of around £26,500.

While there are exemptions from the cap for universal credit households, I emphasise that, under the current welfare supplementary payment schemes, the impact of the benefit cap is fully mitigated for families with children in Northern Ireland. That ensures financial protection for families who have a reduction in benefit due to the benefit cap. The mitigation payments are due to expire on 31 March 2025. My Department has recently commenced a statutory review to consider the future of the mitigation payments post March 2025.

The benefit cap is not reviewed annually in the way that most social security benefits are; rather, there is a statutory duty on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to review the benefit cap levels at least once every five years. The benefit cap was introduced in GB in April 2013, and the levels were reviewed in 2014. A further review was not undertaken until November 2022. The outcome of that review resulted in increases to the benefit cap levels from 1 April 2023. When the Secretary of State makes regulations that amend the annual benefit cap, the Department for Communities may make corresponding amending regulations. The Benefit Cap (Annual Limit) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 came into operation on 1 April of that year to establish the revised benefit cap limits in line with the equivalent provision made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in Great Britain. Those confirmatory regulations were revoked and re-enacted by the Benefit Cap (Annual Limit) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 to maintain the revised limits. Those regulations were revoked and re-enacted by the Benefit Cap (Annual Limit) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024, which came into operation on 21 March 2024. The proposed rule maintains the annual benefit cap levels that were increased by 10·1% from April 2023 to £22,020 for couples and lone parents and to £14,753 for single people. The increase reflects and is based on the September 2022 CPI.

I commend the motion to the House.

I rise as Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Communities to support the introduction of the regulations. I will follow with a contribution in my capacity as a Sinn Féin MLA.

The Committee considered the rule at its meeting on 11 April. Members recognised that the regulations will increase the levels by 10·1% in line with the consumer price index for the year ending September 2022, which will result in working-age benefit households now being entitled to £22,020 as opposed to £20,000 for couples and lone parents. For single people, the increase will be from £13,400 to £14,753. The Committee heard that the purpose of the regulations is to revoke and re-enact the Benefit Cap (Annual Limit) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (NI) 2023 and that they came into operation on 21 March 2024. They need to be approved by 22 September 2024.

The measure ensures continuity and adjusts the benefit cap levels to reflect current economic conditions.

By way of background, I will say that the Committee was reminded that the benefit cap was introduced in May 2016 to limit the total working-age benefits that a household could receive. Initially set at £26,000 for families and £18,200 for single adults, those levels were reduced in November 2016 to £20,000 for families and £13,400 for single adults. The review by the British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in November 2022 determined that the levels should be increased by 10·1%, in line with the CPI for the year ending September 2022. In terms of the key adjustments from the new cap levels, the regulations raise the benefit cap from £20,000 to £22,020 for couples and lone parents and from £13,400 to £14,753 for single adults, ensuring that benefit levels keep pace with inflation.

The Committee was advised that the Department for Communities had conducted a screening exercise under section 75 of the NI Act 1998 and concluded that an equality impact assessment (EQIA) was not necessary as the changes:

"would not have significant implications for equality of opportunity".

On the regulatory and financial implications, the Committee was advised that the regulations impose no additional burdens on business, charities, voluntary bodies or on the public sector.

In relation to compliance and monitoring, the regulations comply with section 24 of the NI Act 1998. They provide parity with the equivalent regulations in GB, specifically the Benefit Cap (Annual Limit) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, ensuring that there is consistency here. The Committee understands that benefit cap levels are subject to review at least once every five years, with the next review required in November 2027.

The Committee was content that the regulations are required. I am therefore content to recommend that the Assembly approve the regulations.

I will make a few short remarks in my capacity as an MLA. I make it clear that the benefit cap is mitigated in the North. The welfare supplementary payment was introduced in 2016, following the recommendations of the Evason report. It protected people against that Tory policy by building in a review every four years. The payment was continued in 2020 by the previous Minister, my party colleague Deirdre Hargey, who also closed the widely acknowledged loophole in the initial legislation. That simplified the qualifying criteria and ensured that more families with children received that financial support.

I take the opportunity to acknowledge all those who campaigned rigorously on the loopholes as well as on the need to continue the mitigations beyond 2020. I mention in particular the Cliff Edge Coalition. It briefed the Committee last week, highlighting once again the importance of our mitigations and the need to enhance them while putting forward its own recommendations.

I call on the Minister for Communities to give a commitment, as a matter of urgency, to extend the benefit cap mitigation post March 2025 in order to give our families the certainty of that payment as soon as possible and to prevent yet another cliff edge.

I thank the Minister for sitting through the very rigorous scrutiny of the pensions regulations.

A budget cap has been in place for some time. Welfare supplementary payments play such a crucial role in providing additional financial support for the individuals and families who are most in need and most vulnerable. The hope is that they can maintain a basic standard of living despite economic pressures, but, in recent years, we have seen that that objective is not being fulfilled. There are families who still struggle with the cost of living, the cost of food and the cost of heating their home. We see more and more families having to access food banks. The importance of the welfare supplementary payments cannot be overstated; it is a life-or-death situation for some families. My party and others on the Communities Committee are genuinely frightened by the cliff edge that we will face in March 2025. I reiterate the Deputy Chairperson's call on the Minister to outline the plans to mitigate the cliff edge that we face.

I have a couple of questions about the regulations. Have any projections been done of the economic impact of the 10·1% increase in the benefit cap on the financial stability of households currently at the cap limit? Has the Department done any studies or had any engagements that support those projections? Given that the increase is tied to the consumer price index for the year ending September 2022, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that future adjustments to the benefit cap continue to accurately reflect changes in living costs? That is not what we see right now. How frequently will it be reviewed? We have talked about a five-year review, but is there any way of doing an interim review of the changes, given how volatile the market is at the moment? Are any safeguards included in the regulations to prevent potential unintended consequences, such as people not qualifying for another benefit if there is a knock-on effect from the increased allowance?

I welcome the support for the regulations from across the House, including from the Deputy Chairperson and the rest of the Committee. I will remark on some of the comments that were made.

As I said, a review will be carried out on the future of mitigation payments. I want the review to be completed as soon as possible so that I can consider it. Certainly, there is consensus among those who have spoken today about the need for mitigations to continue. The mitigations exist in many different forms, but I will have to wait for the report to come back and consider each on its merits. We have a tight budgetary environment, and I want to make sure that we put the resources where they can most help those in need. It may well be that keeping that money where it is and keeping the existing mitigations in place is the best way to do it. There may be other things we can do as well that are more targeted towards those in need. Members will be aware of some of the mitigations that have been suggested in addition to what we have. It may be that we need to look at those as a whole.

I will come back to Sian Mulholland if I miss any of her comments in my response. It is believed that increasing the cap in line with the CPI strikes the right balance as regards the challenging economic climate that we find ourselves in and the associated pressures and is in line with the increase in most of the social security benefits that we saw in 2023. I may have missed something, but I am more than happy to come back to the Member.

I commend the regulations to the House.

Question put and agreed to. Resolved:

That the Benefit Cap (Annual Limit) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 be approved.