Reflections on Northern Ireland’s mirror image approach to devolved social security

Greater Manchester Poverty Action is working to support local authorities and other stakeholders to advance conversations about social security provision across the city region. As part of GMPA’s work on social security, working in partnership with the Sustainable Housing and Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU) at the University of Salford, we invited leading social security policy experts to consider what Greater Manchester could learn from approaches to welfare policy in the devolved nations. The essays identify a number of lessons for Greater Manchester from the experience of devolved nations. What comes through strongly is that regardless of the levels of power over the social security system that exist, what can be done locally to support people accessing the welfare system depends on the interaction of available powers, available budget and political will.