Welfare reform: Department for Social Development sharing plans with NIO

The most senior official in the Department for Social Development has told MLAs he is sharing information with his Northern Ireland Office counterparts on welfare reform plans.

Andrew Hamilton said the decision was taken after NI Secretary Theresa Villiers made it clear she was prepared to legislate directly on the issue.

This was if the current cross-party talks fail to broker a compromise.

Sinn Féin's Alex Maskey questioned on whose authority the decision was made.

Alliance's Stewart Dickson described the initiative as strange.

Mr Hamilton is the department's temporary Permanent Secretary.

Initially he referred to the information sharing as an operational matter that had not required a ministerial decision.

Later he undertook to double check there had been no involvement on behalf of the DUP's Social Development Minister Mervyn Storey.

Another senior official, Ian Snowden, told MLAs that the welfare reform bill that failed to gain approval in May could be reintroduced in November after the expiry of a six-month period.

The officials gave the view that if a new welfare reform deal is agreed at the cross-party talks it would have to be implemented via accelerated legislative passage.

Mr Hamilton estimated the cost of maintaining a computer system to operate the old welfare system in Northern Ireland at £128m a year, but added that the current contractors would be in a strong position to bargain over the bill.

He said the £128m represented about 10% of the cost of maintaining a UK-wide computer system, but if Northern Ireland adopted the new system in use elsewhere it would only be paying around 3% of the UK total.

He acknowledged that if the Stormont politicians agree a mitigation package for welfare, this will also involve a computer cost. He estimated the likely bill at around £8m per year.