The budget - the sector comments

"The Chancellor of the Exchequer had a difficult job to do today but he did not bring much imagination to his first budget,” said Paul McGill, Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action.

“We welcome the fact that he is going to take some money from the super-rich non-domiciled and will spend it on children in poverty. But far more will be needed if we are to solve the problem on target. His increase in the winter fuel allowance, the first for many years, will help, but it falls far short of what is needed to pay the huge increases in fuel prices.

“Government is showing greater awareness of the perils of climate change but here too its actions fall short of what is needed.”

Ricky Rowledge, Northern Ireland Council for the Homeless: “CHNI welcomes the Chancellor’s pledge of an additional £8 billion investment in social and affordable housing. We hope that the share of this going to Northern Ireland is ring-fenced by the Stormont administration to underpin Minister Ritchie’s commitment to solve the present housing crisis here.”

Will Chamberlain, Belfast Community Circus: “The Chancellor talked about how it took a decade to repair 18 years of under-investment in public services by the Tories. The same applies to the arts sector in Northern Ireland. We still have a long way to go to make up for decades of under-investment in the arts.”

Laurence McBride, Trócaire: “The UK has committed to a timetable of giving 0.7% of GDP in overseas aid by 2013. Unfortunately the UK’s contribution to the UN fund to help developing countries cope with climate change will come from the aid budget. It should be additional to it.

“We welcome the potential commitment to raise targets for carbon emissions to 80% by 2050”.

Alex Tennant, Save the Children: “Save the Children is pleased that the government hasn’t backed away from its target to halve child poverty by 2010, but it is running out of time. £4 billion extra targeted at families in poverty is needed over the next two years to meet the child poverty target. The Chancellor has promised £1.9 billion over the next three years to increase child tax credits and child benefits. Clearly this is not enough. The UK government needs to go further, faster if it is to keep its promise to our most vulnerable children. We also need to see the Northern Ireland Executive playing its part in halving child poverty by 2010. This would transform the lives of tens of thousands of children across Northern Ireland.”

Duane Farrell, Help the Aged: “Help the aged welcomes the increase in the winter fuel payment. However, we believe that this budget delivers ‘pittance for pensioners’. The government’s determination to rely on means tested benefits, which we know are not reaching the pockets of Northern Ireland pensioners, will continue to consign one in five of our pensioners to live in poverty.”

Claudine McGuigan, Rural Community Network: “There are references in the budget to helping vulnerable groups but little acknowledgement of the life circumstances of people living in rural areas. There is a lot of emphasis on public transport but nothing to suggest that the need for good transport links extends to people in rural areas. There is a big urban emphasis and focus.

Declan Allison, Friends of the Earth: “The Chancellor claimed this budget would confront climate change but he has failed to announce any strong measwures to do so. A £5 billion windfall tax on energy companies should have been introduced to kick-start a programme to insulate the homes of the fuel poor and reduce domestic carbon emissions. A voluntary scheme isn’t enough.

Andrew Dougal, NI Chest, Heart and Stroke Association: “The concession on Gift Aid is very welcome. Without this, charities in Northern Ireland would have lost £2 million each year. But we still need action on VAT because charities in the UK lose £400 million each year in VAT that they cannot recover. This greatly reduces the services they can offer to disadvantaged groups.”

For more information contact Paul Mc Gill at NICVA; tel: 028 9087 7777; mobile: 0772 1746 805.