£3.6m benefit office for Downpatrick

£3.6m benefit office for Downpatrick

A NEW £3.36m Jobs and Benefits office will be created at Rathkeltair House in Downpatrick.
Communities Minister, Paul Givan, today announced the development plan for the new facility, which will incorporate the Social Security Office currently located at Mount Crescent in the town.

Building work is expected to begin in March and will be complete by January 2018, while additional office space for civil servants will be ready the following spring.

News of the development comes just days after public meetings were held in Ballynahinch and Newcastle to lobby against the proposed closures of Social Security Offices in both towns.

They have been earmarked for potential closure as part of a province-wide rationalisation programme coinciding with the reform of the benefits system in Northern Ireland. 

Mr Givan said the Downpatrick development would provide the people of the town and the surrounding area with a modern single office for employment and benefit services.

“The coming together of the two offices will also provide improved service provision for local people by providing assistance and guidance into employment and support on work and welfare issues,” he said.

“This announcement also reflects the regionally dispersed nature of my Department’s Working Age Service with the Jobs and Benefits Office network throughout Northern Ireland having a central role in the delivery of the future welfare changes, including Universal Credit, in a way that fully supports our claimants.”

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said she was delighted with news of the investment, which she said would lead to a modernised building with enhanced customer service facilities to help address barriers to employment, poverty and social deprivation. 

“Staff members in the new facility will be able to avail of new, modern surroundings and all of the benefits that this will bring,” she said. 

“A wider impact will be a welcome boost to the local economy, and will mark a further step in the regeneration of Downpatrick.”