Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the progress of the roll-out of universal credit in Northern Ireland in the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Assembly and responsible ministers to oversee that roll-out; and if he will make a statement.

As benefit issues are devolved in Northern Ireland the Department for Communities (DfC) have responsibility for the delivery of Universal Credit with the support of DWP and the Universal Credit Programme. The implementation of Universal Credit was agreed by NI Ministers prior to the dissolution of the NI assembly and as part of the Fresh Start agreement. As such we continue to deliver as per the agreed plans. Universal Credit has been introduced in Northern Ireland for new claims, on a phased geographical basis by post code groups aligned to front office locations, which started from September 2017 to September 2018.