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Services under threat as Northern Ireland Supporting People budget cut by £3m
Northern Ireland’s Supporting People budget has been slashed by 5%, leading the housing sector to warn services could be put under threat.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) has cut the budget which funds homelessness and supported housing services in the region by £3m for 2017/18.
More than 100 organisations are affected by the cut, including housing associations and charities, with some claiming the decision was made without them being properly consulted.
But the NIHE said it has invited service providers to discuss the cut’s impact and possible mitigation measures.
The Supporting People programme funds more than 880 housing-related services in Northern Ireland, providing help to upwards of 20,000 people.
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“This is about more than 20,000 people who are the most vulnerable in society, who are at risk of losing this vital safety net,” said Ben Collins, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations.
“The very nature of these schemes is that you can’t just turn around and say ‘on Thursday afternoon we’re not going to have any support available from 2pm to 4pm’. The lack of proper consultation is disappointing.”
Providers were first informed of a cut to the budget in April, but the NIHE had delayed its impact until now.
A spokesperson for the NIHE said: “While the baseline Supporting People budget has been protected at £72.8m, there are a number of inescapable new financial commitments which need to be met.
“This necessitated a review of the funding previously provided for a number of schemes and regrettably we have had to advise providers of a reduction to some budgets in the order of 5%.”
The core Supporting People budget has been frozen for 10 years – with providers arguing this represents a real terms cut of more than 20%.
Ricky Rowledge, director of the Council for Homeless Northern Ireland, said the cuts would make meeting homelessness targets “effectively undeliverable”.
He added: “This short-term saving will have a profound and expensive long-term legacy. Services cannot be sustained at the standard required and there is a very real danger that those in most need will not receive adequate support or may lose out entirely.”
