Executive urged to ringfence £15m for voluntary groups

The Stormont Executive has been urged to ringfence about £15m to protect Northern Ireland's voluntary and community sector from a funding cliff-edge at the end of this month.

Some 64 organisations are facing the prospect of hundreds of job losses when the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is replaced by the government's new Local Growth Fund in April.

The UKSPF replaced EU funding which ceased as a result of Brexit. The Local Growth Fund will see funding available to groups in NI drop from £25m per year to just over £9m.

On Tuesday, the government announced an additional £380m for public services in Northern Ireland over the next three years.

It will be up to the executive to decide how to allocate those funds.

Groups including Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) and Action Mental Health have urged some of the new money to go towards protecting the work they do.

On Wednesday the Secretary of State Hilary Benn also suggested that this as a way of "helping these programmes to continue".

But DUP leader Gavin Robinson called the government's approach "disingenuous", arguing that it should not fall on the executive to solve a problem created by London.

Benn faced criticism from MPs on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee for not doing enough to help protect vulnerable people who access the services.

But he said his department had been engaging in conversations for months about the way forward.

"I get entirely that this is an urgent and difficult problem, but given we are where we are as practical politicians - what do we do now to solve the problem and that is what we're working on.

"It seems to me if the executive plays a part, we're putting money in and recognising local growth fund is a very different entity... and if Peaceplus can come through maybe we'll be able to find a way forward," he said.

Ulster Unionist MP Robin Swann questioned why the government had decided to change how the money is allocated.

"These organisations have been raising alarm bells since December," he said.

The Shared Prosperity Fund was three quarters resource funding, but the Local Growth Fund will only be one third resource funding with the bulk going towards capital instead, having a direct impact on jobs.

Benn said that how the money in the local growth fund was allocated in that "70:30 split is not going to change".

MPs were also told that the secretary of state will also meet officials from PeacePlus on Thursday, a cross-border funding programme, to see if any additional help can be found.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson accused the government of being "disingenuous" as it had taken the decision to change the funding pot, and that it should not fall on the executive to solve the issue.

"Is it not totally disingenuous to take a decision to strip vital community services of direct government funding and then say sure the guys who are already overstretched can pick up the tab?"

Benn rejected Robinson's view and responded: "We can continue to spend time back and forth saying isn't it awful - and it is truly awful for the voluntary organisations involved - the question is what do we do about it?

"The fact remains if the executive thinks these programmes are really important... it is open to the executive to put some money in, alongside the money the government is putting in."