Judgment reserved in anti-poverty strategy challenge

Judgment has been reserved in a legal challenge brought against Stormont for "failing to adopt" an anti-poverty strategy for Northern Ireland.

The human rights group, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), has claimed that ministers have failed to put in place a programme to alleviate poverty.

The challenge is directed against the Department for Communities and the Executive Office, along with the first and deputy first ministers.

A lawyer representing the human rights group, Karen Quinlivan KC, described the case "as an attack on the lack of an anti-poverty strategy".

A spokesperson for the Department for Communities said that a strategy is currently in development.

Ms Quinlivan said it had been a decade since the High Court previously held that the Executive committee was "in breach of its duty" to adopt a programme to deal with poverty.

She added: "It is frankly appalling that that breach had never been rectified."

The court heard the requirement to adopt an anti-poverty strategy was inserted into the Northern Ireland Act, following the St Andrews Agreement in 2006.

The case, brought by the CAJ, is also supported by members of the Equality Coalition including Unison, Barnardo's NI and the Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network.

A lawyer representing the different departments argued the current legal duty to adopt a strategy only commenced when the current Executive was formed in February 2024.

He added that progress is now being made to ensure any legal obligations are met.

The judge, Mr Justice Humphreys, reserved judgment until a later date.

Speaking outside court the director of the CAJ, Daniel Holder, said he was concerned the current Assembly mandate would expire without an anti-poverty strategy in place.

He said: "There are a whole series of measures that were recommended for Stormont to pick up within an anti-poverty strategy on issues like child poverty, child payments, the establishment of a child poverty commission... None of that is in place.

"We are a full year on from the Executive being re-established and we are still without an anti-poverty strategy with those elements in it."

Emma Cassidy, senior engagement lead for Public Interest Litigation Support, which is supporting CAJ, said the group was "challenging nearly two decades of delay".

She said she hoped the court would "compel" politicians to take action.

"We are still in the grips of a cost of living - or cost of survival – crisis and there's no plan of how this is going to be sorted out," she said.

"It sounds bizarre if it wasn't so serious."

John Patrick Clayton from Unison described a strategy as "absolutely vital".

He said he hoped today was an "important step" towards it being taken forward by the Executive.

He added that tackling poverty needs "to be collectively taken forward by the executive as a whole" and a "strategy is the right way to do that".

A spokesperson for the Department for Communities said that the Northern Ireland Executive Anti-Poverty Strategy, which is currently in development, "will aim to mitigate impacts, reduce the risk of falling into poverty and support people in exiting poverty".

The spokesperson continued: "It will set out a cross-departmental commitment to a joined-up, long term approach to addressing poverty and the department is currently engaging with colleagues across all other departments to refine the draft strategy and the action plan that will underpin it with a view to a paper being presented to the Executive in the coming weeks."

The spokesperson said the department "continues to provide support and a wide range of services to those in need".

Benefits entitlement can be checked through the Make the Call service.