The Local Growth Fund will replace the Shared Prosperity Fund, which replaced the European Social Fund after Brexit
Belfast City Council took the prosecution(Image: Belfast Live )
Belfast City Council is writing to the UK government to express its “strong disappointment” over the incoming Local Growth Fund, which it says will lead to a severe drop in funding for local communities and disability services in the city.
Councillors at a committee meeting at City Hall this week agreed to a cross-party motion from the DUP and the Green Party concerning the end of the Shared Prosperity Fund in April this year.
The council said the change of funding placed staff in community and disability organisations “on notice” and would put “essential frontline services at risk for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”
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The Shared Prosperity Fund will soon become the Local Growth Fund, and is intended to provide long-term, targeted investment for regional economic development, with a budget of £45.5 million per year. The Shared Prosperity Fund replaced the European Social Fund after Brexit.
But the Local Growth Fund has become a subject of significant debate between the Northern Ireland Executive and the UK Government, who have proposed a 70 percent capital to 30 percent revenue funding split. The Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee have called for this to be reversed, warning that a low revenue allocation will lead to “devastating” cuts in voluntary sector services.
Local advocacy groups warn that services supporting nearly 24,000 people could collapse in March 2026. All parties of the NI Executive are calling for urgent changes to the Local Growth Fund, and recently decided to write to Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, urging him, “as a matter of urgency” to address the current funding profile.
The Belfast City Council motion, forwarded by DUP Councillor Ruth Brooks and seconded by Green Party Councillor Brian Smyth states: “The council recognises the vital role played by community organisations and disability-led organisations that support independent living, inclusion, advocacy, early intervention and preventative services across our city.
“It further recognises that many of these organisations are heavily reliant on revenue funding to employ staff and deliver frontline support; and that the proportion of capital investment proposed cannot sustain these services.”
The motion adds: “The council expresses disappointment that, once again, many staff within community organisations and disability-led organisations are being placed on notice that their roles may end at the close of the financial year due to yet more funding uncertainty.”
The motion states the transition to the Local Growth Fund was happening “without sufficient clarity or a balanced approach between capital and revenue funding” and “risks having a disproportionate impact on jobless, under-skilled and disabled people and the organisations that support them.”
The motion states the Local Growth Fund is “poorly aligned with Northern Ireland’s needs and is fundamentally misaligned with the intent of the European Social Fund it was designed to replace, resulting in insufficient support for revenue-funded services that address economic inactivity, disability and long-term exclusion.”
The committee unanimously agreed to write to the UK Government to express its “strong disappointment” that the transition to the Local Growth Fund will result in a reduction in revenue funding for community and disability-led organisations. The committee decision will go to the full council next week for ratification, where it is expected to pass.
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