The decision by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to press ahead with halving a £3.6m charity grant scheme “threatens the sustainability” of sector organisations, the chief of a children’s charity has said. 

The Core Grant Funding Scheme was opened in October 2022 and the Department of Health said it financially supports organisations “which either deliver frontline services based on identified need or provide central support services, which are in line with DoH strategic and policy objectives”.

Cuts in the 2023/24 budget meant the scheme’s funding was halved to £1.8m and a group of more than 50 charities and community organisations called for more financial support in May.

The group was led by Children in Northern Ireland, a charity and umbrella body for the children’s sector.

But the 2024/25 budget was agreed yesterday [9 July] and confirmed the scheme’s funding would remain at £1.8m.

Mike Nesbitt, health minister for Northern Ireland, said the removal of all core grant funding was one of the options set out by the Department of Health for the 2024/25 budget.

Nesbitt said: “The financial pressures across health and social care are certainly severe, but I wanted to retain some level of core grant support this year.

“I fully recognise the important role played by the voluntary and community sector with the delivery of many of our strategic aims.

“I fully understand that the sector wanted to see a greater level of core grant this year but that is just not possible.”

Pauline Leeson, chief executive of Children in Northern Ireland, said the decision was “short-sighted and indicative of a lack of understanding” regarding the work organisations in the sector do.

Leeson said: “Lots of community groups, charities and the people they support will be very concerned about what this means for them.

“Maintaining the 50 per cent cut from last year threatens the sustainability of our organisations and damages the wider sector moving forward.”

Leeson said CiNI did not accept the Department of Health’s position that budgetary pressures prevented it from restoring this “small direct investment”.

She said: “Reduced levels of core funding will mean that organisations are forced to divert resources away from supporting people in order to cover central costs.

“Some groups may also cease to exist.”

Nesbitt said he wanted to address the “fundamental unfairness” in the scheme, which has “funded the same organisations for more than 20 years”.

He said: “I am committed to working in partnership with the voluntary and community sector, which time and time again has demonstrated how agile, flexible and innovative it can be.

“I recently met Celine McStravick, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action.

“Celine has helpfully agreed to work with my department to develop proposals for a new core grant funding scheme.

“Through Nicva, the plan is to work with the sector on a co-design basis over the summer with the aim of having a new, redesigned scheme fully up and running in April 2025.”