NI Budget 2023: Department of Health cuts will bring community groups 'to the brink'

Organisations like the Fostering Network Northern Ireland are among those affected by the health funding cut

Cuts to Department of Health funding to community and voluntary groups will push some "to the brink of collapse".

That is according to the umbrella organisation for the children's sector, Children in Northern Ireland (CiNI).

More than 60 community organisations have been told by the department their annual funding is being cut.

A letter from the department's permanent secretary, seen by BBC News NI, said the decision was taken "with great regret and reluctance".

The department launched a consultation on its budget savings plans on Monday.

Its Permanent Secretary Peter May said the health service is currently facing unfunded spending pressures of £472m, of which £375m relates to a pay claim matching NHS England.

As part of the savings, the Department of Health (DoH) plans to cut £1.8m from its core grant funding scheme this year.

It provides funding of between £5,000 and £200,000 to 62 organisations in the community and voluntary sector which deliver frontline services in health.

But the planned DoH reduction will effectively cut the scheme's budget for 2023/24 in half.

That cut has been passed on to the 62 organisations, who have now been told they will only get funding for six months until September rather than a full year as expected.

'Far-reaching consequences'

Many community and voluntary organisations provide support to people that eases some of the pressures on the health service.

Celine McStravick from The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, which is an umbrella body for over 1,500 organisations, said the cut to funding will "absolutely shift the services" in the sector.

"We're talking about just over £3m that goes into our sector for really essential services," she told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"This funds core bits of an organisation, so there is no point in saying this is just one part of a jigsaw of funding for that organisation it's the vital part."

"Its staff, its running costs, its what makes that organisation work," she added.

Ms McStravick urged for political parties to return to the Stormont Assembly as she argued that government ministers could be making more "informed decisions" about the budget rather than civil servants.

Relate NI provides counselling and relationship support to thousands of people every year and is one of the organisations losing money.

It faces a cut of approximately £80,000 of funding, about 8% of its annual budget.

Its chief executive, Duane Farrell, told BBC News NI that the cut would have a "disproportionate impact" and that its early intervention work would be particularly hit.

"It's a very damaging cut on top of how the sector has had to cope in the last number of years," he said.

Duane Farrell from Relate NI said the cuts would affect programmes that were aimed at reducing pressure on health services

"It's part of the ambition of the Programme for Government to provide earlier support to people to avoid crises developing.

"That's the type of work we've been engaged with.

"Our mission is about making expert information about relationships available to everyone - families, couples, children and young people.

"It's a really important way of reducing pressures on the health service in the medium term."

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Children in Northern Ireland represents a range of organisations which work with children and young people.

In a policy briefing for politicians they said the cut "poses a severe threat to the sustainability of community and voluntary sector organisations that provide essential services for children and families".

"The decision to cut core grant funding comes at a time when our members are already grappling with the impact of inflation, pushing them to the brink of collapse," the briefing continued.

"These funding cuts will have far-reaching consequences, including redundancies, reduced services, increased pressure on statutory bodies, and, most distressingly, direct harm to our most vulnerable and marginalised children."

Organisations like the Fostering Network Northern Ireland are also among those affected by the health funding cut.

It is understood the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action has invited political leaders to a meeting to hear about the damage cuts to community and voluntary organisations are causing.

Some previously lost out when European Union funding was replaced by funding from the UK government.

In a statement to BBC News NI the Department of Health said: "As part of the plans to make £360m in savings this year, the funding for the Core Grant Scheme is regrettably being reduced.

"Community and voluntary organisations will only receive core grant funding for the first half of this financial year.

"It is important to emphasise that the department's core grant scheme is a small part of the total health service expenditure which goes to the community and voluntary sector, as most money is for the direct provision of services."