Whilst recognition of the intense pressures facing many voluntary and community organisations at this moment is welcomed, the reality is stark: from tomorrow, essential community employability and support services will fall off a funding cliff edge and actions speak much louder than words of support.
Those who stand to be most affected by this crisis - people with learning difficulties, those with disabilities, long‑term health conditions, or experiencing mental ill health, young people struggling, and women facing persistent barriers - are being caught in a political standoff with no resolution in sight.
For months we have been clear: the 64% cut to revenue funding from 1 April following the introduction of the Local Growth Fund is wholly unworkable and will have devastating consequences. Yet hours before services face collapse and staff are lost, today’s statement offers no urgent solution, no clarity, and no commitment to protect those who rely on this support.
The UK Government’s flawed funding model created this crisis, but these are local services with local impacts. The NI Executive has both the responsibility and the power to prevent this outcome.
Northern Ireland Executive claims of continued engagement with our sector at this time, to secure a solution are simply not true. Acknowledgement without action is not enough and does equate to getting round a table with our sector to find a solution and a way forward.
Meanwhile:
- More organisations are preparing redundancy notices
- Many staff do not know if they have a job tomorrow
- Service users are being told support may end overnight
It is shameful that both Westminster and Stormont have failed to act. If any other sector faced a funding shock of this scale, condemnation would be loud and intervention would be immediate. Instead, essential community services are being left to absorb it alone.
As ever we stand ready to work with government on a solution. A narrow window still remains for the UK Government and NI Executive to act.
If they do not, we have been clear:
- 11,000 people will lose vital support each year
- Hundreds of skilled frontline staff will be lost
- Community infrastructure will be dismantled overnight, reversing decades of progress on economic and social inclusion
This would not be an inevitable outcome, but a conscious political choice.
NICVA and the Economic Inactivity Coalition will continue to call for urgent intervention. We will not allow these services to disappear quietly, nor remain silent as the impacts of their dismantling unfold.
Our political leaders must be held to account for their actions - and inaction - this week.
Failure to secure a resolution will be an abject failure of their political leadership and will rubber‑stamp a short‑sighted funding decision with known long‑term and devastating consequences.
Our sector and our communities deserve better.
