Ulster Unionist Party welfare spokesperson, Robbie Butler MLA, has said that the only conclusion possible after the latest report by the Comptroller and Auditor General is that the broader welfare reform agenda has failed.

Robbie Butler said:

“My Party agreed that the old welfare system was in urgent need for reform – it was unwieldy, far too complicated and most importantly it wasn’t properly supporting people into work.

“Yet everything about the reforms, from the day and hour that they were first announced, has been chaotic and bungled. Instead of simplifying the overall benefits system it is evident that the reforms have made it even more difficult with new layers of complexity and added delay. In many cases it has plunged individuals and families into financial hardship, something that is obvious through the increasing reliance on food banks.

“Budget cuts by the Conservative Party have also stripped away most of the financial incentives within universal credit that were originally meant to support people into work.

“The system has also become much less compassionate. As bad as the overall PIP assessments are, it is even more ridiculous that as a result of the arbitrary 6-month life expectancy criterion for the benefit, terminally ill people are having to campaign instead of making the most of the time that they have left with their loves ones.

“The latest report from the Comptroller and Auditor General makes it clear that even though a shocking £136m of the £213m set aside for mitigation payments for the two years between 2016-18 was not even spent, the reality remains that Northern Ireland has been heavily shielded from most of the changes.

“Yet those protections expire in March next year and without an Executive in place – and with no prospect of one returning anytime soon - no further protections from the likes of the bedroom tax can be agreed upon.

“Whilst I have long believed that the current reform agenda should be suspended, rather than just constantly delayed, the prospect of the mitigation package coming to a thundering halt is just the latest example of why the Secretary of State should now move to introduce Direct Rule in Northern Ireland.”