EU funds: Now Group uncertainty with just nine days left of ESF money

The Now Group runs the cafe at Belfast City Hall along with other training premises

A organisation that helps people with learning difficulties to find work has said it is "not sure" what will happen when its EU funding ends in nine days.

The Now Group is among many community organisations that receive money from the European Social Fund (ESF).

However, as a consequence of Brexit, that fund will no longer support UK organisations after 31 March 2023.

The UK government promised to replace ESF cash, but the Now Group still has no certainty of alternative UK funding.

"It's an awful situation for us and many other organisation to be in," said the group's chief executive officer, Maeve Monaghan.

"At a time when the UK government are saying that there's a focus on getting people back into work, particularly those who are economically inactive, it just astounds me that there isn't any direction or any pathway for us organisations after the end of March."

'We don't really have an answer'

The Now Group supports hundreds of people with learning difficulties, disabilities and autism by providing training and other services which prepare them for the workplace and independent living.

Ms Monaghan told the BBC's Evening Extra programme that her organisation receives £1.3m from the ESF, which amounts about 25% of its annual funding.

Maeve Monaghan said that "as time ticks on it becomes more and more difficult to guarantee anybody a secure future"

Asked what would happen to existing service users when ESF funding ends next week, Ms Monaghan replied: "That's the question that we don't really have an answer for.

"We will have some programmes that can continue on after the end of March, but nothing that will provide this level of support, so we're not quite sure what will happen.

"The organisation, because we have other areas of income generation, will try to retain some level of support but we won't have any intervention around employment for those individuals going forward."

• Axing EU funding 'will leave people in deep water'

• Scheme to replace EU cash for poor areas unveiled

• 'Bleak time until EU funds are replaced'

During the Brexit process, the government said it would introduce its own funding to replace EU economic aid.

The £2.6bn UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) was launched in April 2022 but many organisations still do not know if they will benefit from this money.

Ms Monaghan said she wanted to stress to government departments that "you won't really understand the value of these services until they are gone".

"UKSPF is not a replacement for this funding. No matter what we were promised at the time of Brexit around a like-for-like match, it is not it.

"It is a very good fund and we welcome it into Northern Ireland, but there will be winners and losers in this process and vulnerable people are really the people who will lose out in the end."

Ms Monaghan was among community and charity workers who discussed the issue with a parliamentary committee in Bangor on Monday.

'Hugely deserving'

Members of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) travelled to the County Down town to talk about the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Its chair, Simon Hoare, said the voluntary and community groups they spoke to provided "important services that should not be disrupted."

The Conservative MP added that committee members "completely get and support their anxiety" about the loss of EU funds.

"We were all told that in essence, the Shared Prosperity Fund would be like-for-like funding replacement, in terms of the overall financial envelope.

"Now that hasn't come to pass, regrettably," Mr Hoare said.

"But having heard a uniform and universal message from the groups the committee and I saw yesterday afternoon, then they are certainly within the hugely deserving and most pressing category and that's the message we will take back to Westminster when we return later this week."

He explained that the committee has already raised the funding problems with the Northern Ireland Office and Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove and they have a requested a conversation with Mr Gove next week.