Statement in response to Advice NI on Welfare Reform

In a response to the statement from Advice NI, a spokesperson from the Department for Social Development commented: "Whilst the statement from Advice NI is correct in that claimants will not receive any entitlement to Employment Support Allowance during the reconsideration period, this does not represent a change from existing arrangements for those claimants who choose to challenge a decision to disallow Employment Support Allowance by opting to have a reconsideration undertaken of the original decision.

“In these cases payment of Employment Support Allowance ceases until the outcome is known although the claimant is able to claim Job Seekers Allowance thereby ensuring they will receive payment of a social security benefit. If the outcome from the reconsideration process is in the claimant’s favour, then the entitlement to Employment Support Allowance is re-instated from the date of disallowance.

“The proposals in the Welfare Reform Bill currently going through the Assembly is for the introduction of a mandatory reconsideration process. This change is intended to help reduce the number of people who have to go to appeal by introducing a formal review stage allowing them to submit additional information and having the case reviewed by someone not involved in the original decision. This change means that in the future all claimants who are disallowed Employment Support Allowance must go through the reconsideration process before being able to progress to appeal.

“Whilst claimants who are disallowed Employment Support Allowance will still be entitled to claim Job Seekers Allowance whilst the reconsideration is taking place, the Department recognises the practical difficulties which claimants may experience in moving between benefits and discussions are continuing with the Department of Works and Pensions in London on the practical implications of this change.”

Submit your question directly to the Education Minister via Twitter

Education Minister John O’Dowd will be live on Twitter at 11.15am on Thursday 25 October answering your questions.

 

Education Minister John O'Dowd



You can submit your question now via the hashtag #AskDE. The Minister will respond to as many education-related questions as time permits via the @niexecutive Twitter feed.

If you are not able to be online at 11.15am on Thursday to see the responses live, don’t worry. All responses will remain on the @niexecutive timeline and under the hashtag #AskDE. A full transcript will also be published on this blog.

So if you have a question for the Minister, please do submit it via #AskDE and the Minister will do his best to respond.

Users should submit no more than two questions each. This will enable as many people as possible to have a chance to take part and have their query answered.

You can also submit your question in Irish. Any Irish tweets that the Minister is able to cover in the hour available will be answered in Irish. These tweets will be translated into English in the transcript that will be posted here after the Q&A has finished.

The Minister will respond to as many tweets as possible in the time available. If your particular tweet is not responded to, it may be the case that the topic is covered by a different response, so do please read them all.

Please note we’ve kept the questions submitted for the postponed #AskDE in June. They will be considered equally with any submitted from now.

Minister welcomes Executive agreement to Education Bill

Education Minister John O'Dowd has welcomed the Executive's agreement to the Education Bill, which will see the establishment of the Education and Skills Authority.

Speaking after today's Executive meeting, Mr O'Dowd said:

"Today we have taken a significant step forward in the strategic planning and delivery of our education system; a system which will deliver educational excellence for all and will meet the needs and aspirations of our young people, helping them fulfil their potential and enhancing their life chances.

"The creation of a single authority, able to plan, deliver, support and challenge schools and other providers, will also ensure we are better able to enhance the role played by education in developing our economy.

"I look forward to bringing this Bill to the Assembly in the coming weeks for scrutiny by the Assembly and the Education Committee.

"I wish to pay tribute today to staff at the Education and Library Boards, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools, the Youth Council and the Staff Commission for the Education and Library Boards. Over the course of the past 40 years they have provided an invaluable service to schools and I recognise the hard work and commitment of staff in all these organisations. This has been particularly true in recent years as many posts have gone unfilled in preparation for ESA with the remaining staff showing their professionalism in ensuring the continued delivery of services.

"Next week I will announce the way ahead for the establishment of a sectoral support body for the controlled sector. I will be establishing a working group to take this forward and I look forward to engaging with the group to secure the establishment of the sectorial support body by next year."