{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
The Social Security Agency (SSA) was a government agency in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
dealing with
social security
Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
. It was an agency of the
Department for Social Development Department of Social Development may refer to:
* Department of Social Development (Canada)
* Department of Social Development (New Brunswick)
* Department of Social Development (South Africa)
* Department for Social Development (Northern Ireland ...
(DSD) but was merged into the newly formed
Department for Communities
The Department for Communities (DfC, Irish Language, Irish: ''An Roinn Pobal''; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster Scots: ''Depairtment fur Commonities'') is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The m ...
(DfC) in 2016.
Services
The SSA dealt with the benefits given to people who may be
unemployed
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (hu ...
, supporting children under 16, unemployed with medical conditions etc. Its main goals were to:
* Assess and pay social security benefits accurately and securely
* Give advice and information about these benefits
* Handle reviews and appeals
* Prevent and detect benefit fraud, prosecute offenders and recover any benefit which has been paid incorrectly
* Recover benefit which has been paid in compensation cases
* Assess people’s financial circumstances if they are applying for legal aid
Stormont Estate
The Stormont Estate is an Estate (land), estate in the east of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland), Parliament Buildings, which is surrounded by woods and parkland, and is ...
, close to Parliament Buildings. Its services extended to all of Northern Ireland, but also to 3 districts within
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
through back-office services on behalf of the
Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...
(DWP).
See also
*
List of Government departments and agencies in Northern Ireland
A list of Northern Ireland government departments, their agencies and their ministers and related organisations.
The devolved government of Northern Ireland (the Northern Ireland Executive) is responsible for most public services in the region but ...