Deja Vu.Too many voluntary organisations seeking grant funding, not enough money in the council pot … with community projects already reeling from news of severe cuts to Edinburgh’s Health & Social Care grants, the city’s youth and children projects are now also braced for potentially catastrophic cuts.
The city council has proposed a reduction of £1.25 million to its Communities and Families Main Grant Programme over the next three years, and EVOC’s Young People & Families Network say cuts on this scale – 35% of the programme – will have a huge impact on families across the city.
In a letter to councillors on behalf of the Children, Young People and Families’ Network, EVOC Chief executive Ella Simpson has called for the proposed cuts to be halted. The letter reads:
For the attention of all City of Edinburgh Councillors
Re: Proposed 35% cut to 2020-2023 Communities and Families Main Grant Programme
I am writing on behalf of EVOC’s Children, Young People & Families’ Network, comprising of 68 third sector organisations. The Network aims to improve the effectiveness and maximise the contribution of Edinburgh’s voluntary sector to the planning and delivery of services and activities for children, young people and their families in Edinburgh.
We would like to draw your attention to the following four funds, which we understand will now be combined into the 2020-2023 Communities and Families Main Grant Programme:
- Three Year Main Grant Programme
- One Year Small Grant Programme
- Youth Work Grants
- Choose Youth Work Grant Programme
Proposals within The City of Edinburgh Council’s Change Strategy 2019-2022, before The City of Edinburgh Council on 21st February, propose a cut of £1.25 million to these funds, which previously totalled £3,508,000.[1] This will amount to a reduction of about 35% of current funding.
We are gravely concerned that this will pose a loss of a significant number of services for thousands of children, young people and families in Edinburgh.
EVOC has collected evidence from organisations currently receiving Communities & Families Grant funding, to quantify the impacts of these cuts. This is not intended as an in-depth analysis, nor can we predict which organisations would lose funding, however it is a powerful demonstration of the scale of risk associated with such a cut.
Twenty-two organisations replied to our survey and they receive a combined £1,284,865 funding from the above four funds and have provided the following information if their funding ceases:
- Over the course of a year, support would be lost to 6769 children/young people, 470 parents and 1,840 families.
- Leverage funding of £2,845,701 would be lost to the city.
- All twenty-two organisations would have to close, or substantially reduce, their CEC-funded service within the project.
- Six organisations would be at significant risk of closing down completely.
In addition to the above risks, organisations have highlighted:
- Limited overall capacity: a reduction or closure of projects will not be able to be absorbed by similar services
- Remaining projects: increased pressure on services if they are unable to refer service users into other specialist services
The following provides personal quotes from service users and professionals about the potential impact of closure:
“They are a good multi-agency worker and a partner that we value; we would not have the capacity to provide this level of support to the families were refer to them.”
Health Visitor
“Fantastic service offered by this team. All our children at our school benefit from their service. All the workers are fully committed to working with the school and provide a service which we unfortunately do not have the time to do. The 1:1 sessions are hugely important to our young people and the needs of the younger generation continue to grow.”
Deputy Head
“I wouldn’t have care of my children if you guys weren’t here to help and support me – FACT!!”
Parent
We, of course, recognise that there are other third sector organisations within Edinburgh who do not currently receive Communities & Families grant funding and that a process should be in place to allow new suitably competent organisations wishing to provide services to bid for funding. Though it is not possible to demonstrate a quantifiable impact on their services, it is inevitable that a cut to the overall grant fund will have a detrimental effect on new applicants too.
A loss of the preventative, early intervention services provided by these organisations will have a significant impact on children, young people and their families in Edinburgh, not least for those children and young people on the edges of care.
In light of the recommendations following the 2016-19 Children and Families Grant process we are particularly disappointed at the lack of communication with the sector as regards this proposal.
We are writing to ask you to consider the significant impact of these proposed budget savings and oppose the proposed cuts to third party grants.
Ella Simpson
Chief Executive, EVOC
On Behalf of the Children, Young People and Families’ Network
[1] See section 3.1 of Communities and Families Grants to Third Parties 2019/22
NOTE:
The city council is taking bookings for the 2020-23 Communities and Families Grant Programme Engagement Event on 27th February starting at 1pm. The event will be held at The Atrium, Edinburgh College Sighthill Campus.
The following link contains details of how to get to the campus: http://www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/Welcome/Our-Campuses/Sighthill
Booking a place for the event should be done by contacting Ruth Currie (Ruth.Currie@edinburgh.gov.uk) and please let her know which organisation you represent.
We expect there to be a high demand for places and therefore we will only be able to offer one place per organisation.
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