Paul Givan

The contract will provide 170 jobs in Northern Ireland, and will be delivered from offices in Ballymena and Londonderry.

The Ballymena office will get the majority of the jobs with 150 located there, and the remaining 20 jobs will go to the Lisahally Service Centre which currently already provides services to DWP.

While a number of the posts will be filled in the first instance through internal NICS redeployment, it is expected a total of 150 posts will be filled through external recruitment and recruitment agencies.

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The Minister made the announcement during a visit to DWP headquarters in London.

He said: “This new contract is the second to be secured by my department this year on behalf of DWP and underscores their confidence in the quality skills and service our staff in Northern Ireland consistently deliver. Providing services to Great Britain on behalf of DWP is now a core part of my department’s business. I am confident the new contract will provide excellent opportunities at the sites in Ballymena and Londonderry.”

The contract is for an initial two year period at Â£4million per annum. The average salary will be in excess of Â£19,000 for the 170 posts which will be mainly administrative grades. The posts will assist in the delivery of Universal Credit and the Benefit Cap across Great Britain on behalf of DWP, and are expected to be fully operational by the autumn 2017.