Publications

The Code of Practice for Data Matching applies to data matching carried out by the Department and its executive agencies. It explains why we use data matching, processes involved and the safeguards in place to ensure our data matching conforms to law.

The Code of Practice for Obtaining Information provides guidance to staff authorised under law to obtain information from certain listed organisations on behalf of the Department in connection with benefit offences.

This Code of practice details the use of powers to obtain information.

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was introduced to determine eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), providing a functional assessment of any individual. Five Independent Reviews of the WCA, have provided a number of recommendations to the Department.

The Department for Work and Pensions launched the ‘Pathways to Work’ programme at the heart of the welfare to work agenda a number of years ago. 

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was introduced to determine eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), providing a functional assessment of any individual.

This Regulatory Impact Assessment looks at the proposal to abolish the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) record keeping requirements of employers thereby removing the cost to businesses associated with maintaining records for SSP and Percentage Threshold Scheme (PTS) purposes following

Money Laundering can impact on certain areas of governmental business. As a result, the Department has chosen to adhere to the principles behind the money laundering legislation through the development of a departmental Money Laundering Policy.

The Instrument of Payment Fraud Sanctions Policy describes the Department's sanctions in cases where its customers commit fraud involving cheques. The range of disposals is similar to those applied in cases where there is a benefit offence.

If you have made a claim for Legal Aid and have told us that either you, your partner or both of you are a company director, we will need some more information about this in order to decide how much the Law Society can ask you to pay towards your legal costs if you are offered

The vision of the ‘Maximising Incomes & Outcomes’ plan is that every individual and household across Northern Ireland will be in receipt of all the social security benefits to which they and their families are entitled.

The Government introduced the Pension Schemes Bill to Parliament in June 2014.

This impact assessment considers three private pensions policy areas: consolidation of the disclosure of information regulations; a review of Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (SMPIs); and extending the current provisions which allow private pension schemes to communicate

This Impact Assessment considers two changes to the way employer debt is treated in the context of a company restructuring.

Publications include results of Social Security Agency (SSA) questions which have featured in the Northern Ireland Omnibus household survey since September 2012.

This impact assessment considers the effect on schemes of removing the transitional provisions in regulation 14 of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 ('the Investment Regulations').

This Regulatory Impact Assessment considers changes to the requirements relating to the disclosure of information by occupational, personal and stakeholder pension schemes.

This impact assessment covers the effects of regulations imposed on the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2012. 

This report has been completed in compliance with section 2 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2012 which provides that “The Department shall, within two years of the date on which this Act receives Royal Assent, lay a report before the Assembly on the impact of soci

Many of the 2014 Budget reforms that introduced pensions flexibilities required substantive changes to tax legislation which come into effect from 6 April 2015.