TUV leader Jim Allister. Picture by Hugh Russell

THE communities minister has ordered her department to stop publishing the names of people convicted of benefit fraud.

Sinn Féin's Deirdre Hargey said their publication was "not necessary" and she wants her department to instead look at providing broader information.

The move has been welcomed by rights campaigners as a step in changing a "dehumanising narrative", but critics warned it "sends out the wrong message to benefit cheats".

For years the Department for Communities (DfC) has routinely published in press releases and on its website details of benefit fraud cases it has investigated and brought through the courts.

Benefit fraud costs the public purse in Northern Ireland an estimated £52 million a year – around one per cent of total benefits expenditure.

There were 205 people convicted of benefit fraud last year, with fraud overpayments totalling £1.5m. Sentences can range from community service and fines to custodial terms.

Read More: Benefit fraud probes uncover some claiming tens of thousands of pounds

In November, a Northern Ireland Audit Office report found that rates of housing benefit fraud and error "continue to be unacceptable", amounting to £4.9m (13 per cent) of total housing benefits administered in 2018/19 – an increase on the £4.5m in 2017/18.

Ms Hargey said her department is "not required to publish information relating to individual benefit convictions through the courts, which is already in the public domain".

"I have therefore decided it is not necessary for my department to also publish this information," the South Belfast MLA said.

"Instead, I have asked officials to consider how fraud and error information could be published in a more strategic way to reflect the wide range of work undertaken in this area.

TUV leader Jim Allister. Picture by Hugh Russell

"This could include not just the work we do to protect public funds and reduce loss, but also as importantly, correcting underpayments and delivering outreach services to make sure everyone is receiving their full entitlement to benefit."

Dessie Donnelly, director of the organisation PPR (Participation and the Practice of Rights), welcomed the minister's decision.

He described it as an "important step in changing the dehumanising narrative and culture which has emerged during 'welfare reform'".

Mr Donnelly said benefit fraud is "miniscule" compared to public money owed through unpaid taxes.

The prominence given to benefit fraud by DfC in the past would "feed the myth that our social security system was under strain due to fraud".

"It is under strain due to the policies of the Tory administration and the adaption and implementation of these policies by the executive, even if it is reluctantly done," he said.

However, TUV leader Jim Allister described the move as a "retrograde step" and said he would be tabling an assembly question to the minister.

He said that while individual convictions remain public through the courts, "the reality is that with tightening margins in journalism, many of these cases will be missed by the press simply because of a lack of resources".

"Failing to continue the practice of publishing the names sends out the wrong message to benefit cheats as it means that even if they are caught they are less likely to suffer the shame of friends and neighbours learning about their misdemeanours," he said.

"With Stormont's budget already under great pressure and the local parties being sold a pup by the Treasury, one would have thought that ministers would have been keen to take all measures possible to cut fraud."

Tackling benefit fraud was a goal in 2015's Fresh Start Agreement, as Stormont sought savings in a deal to secure a mitigations package to offset cuts due to Westminster welfare reforms.