Northern Ireland

Ó Muilleoir: Bedroom tax mitigation payments 'can still be made'

'Bedroom tax' mitigation payments can still be made, the finance minister has said
'Bedroom tax' mitigation payments can still be made, the finance minister has said 'Bedroom tax' mitigation payments can still be made, the finance minister has said

EXECUTIVE ministers were last night at odds over whether payments to mitigate the impact of the 'bedroom tax' can still be made.

Finance minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said existing legislation is sufficient to ensure social housing residents will not lose out when the British government cuts benefits to those deemed to have spare rooms.

However, DUP communities minister Paul Givan insisted new arrangements are needed and Stormont will be unable to act if the assembly collapses next week.

"I am 99 per cent certain that the only option to deal with mitigating the bedroom tax is to have the regulation in place," he told the BBC's The Nolan Show.

In a letter to his Sinn Féin colleague John O'Dowd yesterday, Mr Ó Muilleoir dismissed Mr Givan's claims.

"I can confirm that sufficient legislative authority is already in place to allow bedroom tax mitigation payments," Mr Ó Muilleoir wrote.

"The 2016 Budget Act, which was approved by the Assembly, provides legislative authority to make bedroom tax mitigation payments. This will cover any expenditure up until March 2017. After that point, Section 59 of the 1998 (NI) Act can be used to ensure payments continue."

The ministers later made conflicting statements on Twitter.

Mr Givan said Mr Ó Muilleoir's suggestions were "regrettably not a way forward", but Mr Ó Muilleoir later tweeted that he was "100 per cent correct on bedroom tax".

"My letter to John O'Dowd is based on advice of my senior officials and Dept Solicitor's Office," he said.

Around 34,000 householders are due to have their housing benefit reduced next month.

The tax could cost affected householders an average of £20 a week.

Extra money provided by Stormont to make up for cuts to the overall welfare budget at Westminster was a key plank in the Fresh Start agreement to save power-sharing in 2015. The money had been a central Sinn Féin demand.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire rejected a suggestion that the British government would adjust its UK-wide welfare reforms for Northern Ireland.

"It is a UK-wide position on the spare room subsidy," he said.

He added: "Clearly it is for the devolved administration here to determine if they wish to make a change from UK-wide policy."