Northern Ireland

The original research was designed to produce a minimum income standard for Britain that did not account for possible variations in Northern Ireland. In 2009, research in Northern Ireland investigated the extent to which different budget levels are appropriate there.

Summary
The project did not aim to replicate the methodology used for the MIS for Britain.

• The Northern Irish exercise did not involve ‘orientation groups’. The NI groups used the definition of ‘acceptable minimum need’ as constructed in the British work, which was agreed by groups across England, Scotland and Wales. However, as with British groups, the Northern Irish groups were given the opportunity to comment on the definition.

• For the NI MIS, one group were held with different household types. The groups covered the function of the British Task Groups and Checkback Groups in that, for some budget areas they constructed new lists (as per Task Groups) and for other budget areas they reviewed lists developed in the British work (as per Checkback Groups).

The project did not aim to provide 15 new budget spreadsheets for Northern Ireland. A parallel set of spreadsheets will not necessarily assist in developing a UK MIS. What is critical, however, is to be able to relate needs and costs in Northern Ireland with those embodied in the British MIS. To meet this purpose, budgets for a selection of household types have been developed.

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