Recommendation HIA-9: Social Security Payments Unaffected
From Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, published 20 January 2017.
Recommendation
We also recommend that social security payments should not be affected by lump sum payments awarded by the HIA Redress Board.
In brief (written by this site)
The Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act 2019, enacted in November 2019, provides that compensation payments awarded under the statutory redress scheme must not affect an individual's welfare entitlements (UK Parliament, Nov 2019). In November 2019, it established under section 15 that an award "is to be disregarded for the purposes of an assessment" of eligibility for any social security benefit that depends on a means test (UK Parliament, Nov 2019).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
No formal government response published. The Inquiry reported on 20 January 2017, the month the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed; the report The Executive Office and the Northern Ireland Office laid before Parliament in September 2019 records that, because of the collapse, the report and its recommendations had not yet been put to the Executive.
Delivery
The government says in progress (5 November 2019)
An award of compensation under this Part is to be disregarded for the purposes of an assessment of a person’s eligibility for a social security benefit the entitlement to which depends on the carrying out of a means test.
From: Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act 2019, section 15 (as enacted)
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Northern Ireland Executive
Response - The government
Delivery statement