Devolution and Parity
Employment, health and safety, and social security policy are reserved matters in Scotland.
Northern Ireland has parity with Great Britain in three areas:
- social security
- child support
- pensions
Policy in these areas is technically devolved but, in practice, follows policy set by Parliament to provide consistency across the United Kingdom. Employment and health and safety policy are fully devolved.
The DWP's main counterparts in Northern Ireland are:
- the Department for Social Development (administers welfare policy)
- the Department for Employment and Learning
- the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (oversees the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland)
Read more about this topic: Department For Work And Pensions
Famous quotes containing the word parity:
“The U.S. is becoming an increasingly fatherless society. A generation ago, an American child could reasonably expect to grow up with his or her father. Today an American child can reasonably expect not to. Fatherlessness is now approaching a rough parity with fatherhood as a defining feature of American childhood.”
—David Blankenhorn (20th century)