To ask the Minister for Communities (i) to detail what steps she will take to ensure working people are never financially disadvantaged by working; and (ii) to outline the cross-departmental work she will do to ensure policies do not discriminate against working people.

Universal Credit (UC) is now the main working age benefit in Northern Ireland and is available to both in-work and out of work claimants.

UC was designed to ensure that claimants are better off in work. In contrast to the more rigid rules of older legacy benefits, UC does not restrict the number of hours that a claimant can work, claimants can take on temporary work without having to make a new claim to UC, and UC will continue to provide support between periods of work.

It is a key principle of UC that working claimants on low pay should be supported to find more work, or better paying work. Claimants with earnings below a prescribed threshold receive additional support from Work Coaches to help achieve this. Furthermore, when UC claimants undertake training to enhance their employment prospects and receive a qualifying training allowance to meet specific costs for training or development, the amount of UC they receive may not be impacted by that training allowance.

As the amount of a UC claimant’s employed earnings increases, the amount of UC they receive decreases. This is called the ‘earnings taper.’ The taper has been reduced from 65% to 55%. This allows working claimants to keep more of their UC along with their earnings.

UC also makes provision for a ‘work allowance’ which is a prescribed amount of income that claimants, in specific circumstances, can earn before the earnings taper is applied. Where a qualifying claimant’s earnings are below this amount, there is no reduction to their UC, and the taper will only apply to earnings above the work allowance.

I am aware that the cost of childcare has increased significantly in recent years and can form a real barrier to work for people with responsibility for children. UC also makes provision for 85% of qualifying childcare costs to be reimbursed to working parents in an effort to remove this barrier.

Addressing poverty in all its forms is a key priority for me. I am committed to delivering long-term, sustainable solutions to poverty for all in our communities, including working people, right across Northern Ireland.

The Department for Communities promotes the value of work, and the positive impact it can have on poverty, health and wellbeing, social inclusion, and our economy.

In drafting the Anti-poverty strategy, I will be engaging with my Executive colleagues, to ensure that as far as possible we encourage people seeking employment and remove barriers that prevent working people from staying in work.

I am currently considering the next steps to be taken in relation to the Strategy, and final decisions on the content and implementation of the Anti-Poverty Strategy will be subject to Executive agreement as it is an Executive Strategy.