Charities hold on to funding despite deficit concerns

Charities feared having their grant funding withdrawn by the joint board

Charities in Edinburgh have been told their funding is secure until the end of the financial year amid concerns over support being withdrawn.

The Integration Joint Board (EIJB) had been considering cutting £4.5m worth of grants shared between 64 organisations.

The board, which looks after health and social care in the city, needs to find £110m of savings over the next two years.

However, it voted on Friday to continue support before holding talks with NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council to identify a source of longer-term funding.

The funding had been expected to continue until March 2025, with the possibility of a further extension.

EIJB grants are not responsible for funding core health or statutory social care services including children and families services and homelessness.

But a report found that while many of the grant-funded projects were successful in tackling their respective issues, some did not come under the EIJB remit.

It said many of the projects funded through the grants programme “did not represent best value for money”.

The proposed £4.5m cut, affecting projects which did not technically come under the EIJB’s remit, would have ensured the board was able to “meet its core and statutory duties”.

Those include the provision of care homes and work to combat drug deaths.

'Listened to voices'

Protesters gathered outside the city’s council chambers in a demonstration against the cuts, which would have given organisations just 90 days to secure alternative funding.

The board’s Katharina Kasper said it had “listened to voices” across the city in reaching its decision.

But she warned its current “underfunding” could not continue, and said a solution would need to be found to prevent the withdrawal of funding for third sector organisations being put back on the table.

She said: “The EIJB has listened to voices across Edinburgh and has voted not to proceed with in-year savings to third sector grants at this time.

“We have also agreed that the long-term under-funding of the EIJB cannot continue.

“The EIJB's budget deficit which was inherited from its partners in 2016 remains, with £60m savings required this year and £50m next year.”

She added: “The EIJB has a legal duty to protect core services such as care homes and drug death prevention services. If a solution cannot be found, we will have to come back with a recovery plan to make these savings.”