Social Development
Welcome to the Home Page of the Committee for Social Development. The committee was established to advise and assist the Minister for Social Development, Nelson McCausland MLA, on matters within his responsibility as a Minister. The committee undertakes a scrutiny, policy development and consultation role with respect to the Department for Social Development and plays a key role in the consideration and development of legislation. The Committee Chairperson is Mr Alex Maskey.
Here you will find information about the Committee membership and the work of the Committee.
The Committee for Social Development will meet at 10am on Thursday 16 May when Members will receive a briefing from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on its Maintenance Contracts. The Charity Commission will provide the Committee with an update on the consultation ‘Public Benefit and Registration Guidance’.
The Committee will also receive a briefing from the Department on Shared Community Schemes.
In the afternoon, a delegation from the Committee will travel to Ballynafeigh Community Development Association to find out more about how a shared community scheme works in practice.
Local housing needs are changing. Many people have been affected by negative equity, falling incomes and the shortfall of suitable and affordable social housing.
The Assembly’s Social Development Committee which oversees the work of the Department and advises the Minister is determined to develop an inclusive and sustainable approach to local housing.
A housing event, organised by the Committee, heard from both groups and individuals working in the local housing sector. Their views will help to inform and set the agenda for the Committee’s continuing work on this important issue.
Around 180 representatives from the voluntary and community sector came together in the Stormont Hotel on Tuesday 2 October to talk about how the sector could work together to deliver social change.
Chairperson of the Assembly's Social Development Committee, Alex Maskey MLA was on hand to deliver a keynote address. Read more...
The Welfare Reform Bill and the effect it will have in Northern Ireland was top of the agenda at a special conference attended by the Assembly’s Committee for Social Development and hosted by NICVA and the Law Centre (NI) on Tuesday 6 March.
For more info click here.
The Northern Ireland Assembly Committee for Social Development pictured with members of the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC). Front Centre l-r Committee for Social Development Chairperson Alex Maskey MLA and SSAC Chairperson Paul Gray. The Committee received a briefing from the SSAC on its work on Welfare Reform and discussed a range of concerns regarding the potential impact of the Welfare Reform Bill on the vulnerable.