Minister for Social Development

Department for Communities

Department overview
Formed	1 December 1999
Preceding Department	Department of Health and Social Services & Department of the Environment
Jurisdiction	Northern Ireland
Headquarters	Lighthouse Building, 1 Cromac Place, Gasworks Business Park, Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 2JB
Employees	7,452 (September 2011)
Annual budget	£505.4 million (current) & £161.6 million (capital) for 2011–12
Minister responsible	Vacant
Website	www.communities-ni.gov.uk

The Department for Communities is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for Communities.

The department was previously created in May 2016 following the Fresh Start Agreement and the dissolution of several departments, such as the Department for Social Development, the Department of the Environment, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Department for Employment and Learning from which several functions have amalgamated.

DfC's overall aim is "tackling disadvantage and building sustainable communities".

The incumbent Minister is Paul Givan (DUP).

The department's main responsibilities are as follows:

Northern Ireland has parity with Great Britain in three areas:

Policy in these areas is technically devolved but, in practice, follows policy set by Parliament to provide consistency across the United Kingdom.

The department is also responsible for the following public bodies:

(jointly with the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister)

It also oversees the Office of the Social Fund Commissioner.

DfC's main counterparts in the United Kingdom Government are:

In the Irish Government, its main counterparts are:

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