Category: Pennywell

Community projects across the city are facing financial armageddon following news that Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) plans to discontinue funding to 64 community projects across the city.

The EIJB is facing a financial crisis and sees slashing funds to third sector organisations as a way to tackling a massive deficit. If the recommendations are approved by board members at a meeting on Friday, the disinvestment in much-needed community services would save EIJB £4.5 million.

Although rumours of swingeing cuts were circulating for some days, the key papers announcing the plans only appeared online late on Friday afternoon – and they make grim reading for community organisations across the city.

The full papers for Friday’s meeting can be found below – and the Chief Officer’s recommendations make truly awful reading for 64 community organisations and the thousands of citizens they support.

Rubbing salt into the wounds, the EIJB also proposes cutting funding before the end of THIS financial year – two months early – forcing voluntary sector organisations to issue redundancy notices immediately. A fine early Christmas present!

For some projects, cuts on this scale would see a devastating reduction to the services they are able to provide to people living in some of Edinburgh’s most deprived communities. Scores of jobs will be lost if the cuts go ahead, vital services will be slashed and a number of community organisations may even be forced to close completely.

Restalrig’s Ripple Project announced: ‘The Ripple is devastated by the release of proposals to remove a huge proportion of health and social care funding from The Ripple in just 90 days time.

‘Please come to the Ripple next week and join us in our campaign to stop this happening.’ The Ripple provides and hosts a range of services from their busy community hub and they have set up a petition to oppose the cuts.

People Know How have already made the difficult decision to close their doors – and more will undoubtedly follow if the proposed cuts go ahead.

People Know How told service users: “Due to the drastic changes across the fundraising landscape in Scotland, it is with great sadness that we must announce that we are beginning to work towards closing People Know How including the redundancy of all our staff team.”

An online post explains: ‘People Know How was founded in 2013 and has grown to deliver services to thousands of people across Scotland over the past decade. Supporting people to be digitally and socially included through Reconnect, providing help to children as they move from primary to secondary school through Positive Transitions, and enhancing communities with projects including All Aboard, People Know How has always put people at the heart of what we do. ‘

‘A dedicated team of 24 paid staff and around 100 annual volunteers, interns, and placement students (VIPs) make all this work possible, and we collaborate with numerous funders and partners to maximise the reach and impact of the charity. In the last 4 years, People Know How has also expanded its reach to effect social change nationally as well as locally, through research, campaigning, influencing policy and our national Digital Support Helpline.

‘Due to the drastic changes across the funding landscape in Scotland, at the end of September, our Board and Chief Executive were faced with a difficult conversation in light of the lack of funding for the current and forthcoming financial years.

‘In just the last few months, we have seen devastating funding cuts across the sector and a drastic shift in the funding landscape. As a result, we have seen fewer options for long-term funding, with other funders closing entirely and leaving those that remain severely over-subscribed.

‘The Scottish Government is currently examining their approach to funding in the third sector, responding to calls from the sector for longer-term funding, unrestricted core funding, funding to accommodate paying staff a Real Living Wage and more. But as the debate continues, charities like People Know How are dealing with the reality.

‘While charities continue to close, the cost of living crisis continues, the number of children absent from schools is at crisis level and support for digital exclusion is needed more than ever.

‘The decline of available funds is directly at odds with the increasing need of the communities we support. Over the last few months, we have seen attendance to our digital groups and calls on our Digital Support Helpline increase.

‘We also recently partnered with BT to provide information about the digital landline switchover, with many groups across the country eagerly coming forward to work with us on this project. And just 2 months ago, we began our Positive Transitions support in schools for the new academic year, addressing a very real need for support felt by the children, young people and families moving to secondary school.

‘While we have funding for some projects, we will not hear back from our biggest funders until the end of this financial year and cannot move forward without the certainty that we will be able to support our service users and employ our staff beyond Christmas.

‘Since September, People Know How has been undergoing a 30-day collective consultation process to assess its future and options to avoid redundancies, including pausing all new activities to prioritise the support of those using our services.

‘We have also been speaking with our partners and contacts to assess options and opportunities where possible. That consultation process has now come to an end and unfortunately, we have not found a solution to save the 24 jobs and charity and have had to make the extremely difficult decision to work toward closing People Know How.

‘From today, (25 October), we will be working to wind down our projects and identify opportunities for those who use our services to continue being supported by other organisations. Our staff will also be looking for new employment opportunities. We will remain open until December but our capacity will be reducing gradually until then, as our team moves on.

‘Consideration is being made on how we close in the best way possible to value all the work and achievements since 2013. We are proud of what we have achieved over the last 11 years, supporting communities to improve wellbeing across Scotland.

‘The passion we have seen in every single one of our staff members and VIPs during this time has been incredible and we couldn’t be prouder to have been part of their lives and careers. Thank you to all who have been with us on this amazing journey.’

North Edinburgh’s R2 group is a coalition of local projects who united during the Covid pandemic lockdown to support vulnerable local people with food and essential supplies.

Spartans Community Foundation CEO Debbi McCulloch, who chairs R2’s development group, wrote to politicians and members of the EIJB yesterday: 

Proposed IJB cuts to third sector organisations  

As Chair of R2 Development Group I am writing to express our concern and dismay at the current  rumours circulating within the 3^rd sector about the IJB cuts to third sector grants, and potential  disinvestment from 64 community organisations.

This disinvestment appears to be part of the IJB’s in year recovery plan and savings strategy for 2025/26. We find this particularly surprising given the  consultation that the IJB have recently completed on their new strategy which prioritised prevention  and closer collaboration with the 3^rd sector. 

We would also like to acknowledge that the third sector has already taken significant cuts this year  from the grant funding and has still achieved (or in many case over achieved) on the targets set, yet  the sector is facing the biggest cuts. 

In north Edinburgh, it is estimated that this will result in around £1million worth of funding being lost  to the area. We are particularly concerned that local income maximisation services could be lost as  many of us work in partnership with these services and see the difference they can make in household  income for the people we work with. This work is key to our collective contributions to reducing  poverty in the City. 

While we recognise the significant funding challenges faced by the IJB, disinvesting from the 3rd  sector for short term cost savings seems misguided. Such actions are likely to increase pressure on  both NHS and Council services, contradicting the Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland, and  the Audit Commission’s strong advocacy for enhanced prevention and early intervention strategies  which are known to take time and require investment.

Evidence consistently shows that investment in  prevention is one of the most cost-effective methods to improve health outcomes and reduce  inequalities, ultimately fostering greater sustainability with economic, social, and environmental  benefits. 

We hope for a constructive discussion with the IJB and other partners on how we can best support our  communities together. We would be very grateful if you could investigate on our behalf and advise us  accordingly. 

We ask that: 

• The funding for this year is guaranteed and runs the full length of the contract. • That the 25/ 26 grants are not cut in entirety and that we can be part of a conversation  regarding how we maybe able to assist in making savings. 

• That there is recognition that is these “savings” are to go through, we are shoring up future  impacts.

We’d ask you to explore this matter further and share anything you find out with us. In particular we  would like to know: 

• What consideration has been made for the Audit Scotland, Chief Medical Officer and Scottish  Government guidance to invest in health prevention, health activities in community? • If an equality impact assessment on these proposals has been carried out and what the  conclusion of this was? 

Finally, we’d ask you to talk your party colleagues, particularly if they sit on the IJB and ask them to do  all they can to prevent these cuts.  

We know, that when local community sector organisations get cut, it can take years to rebuild projects  and relationships with local communities. As the social and health issues in our communities are  continuing to increase, we want to continue to do all we can to alleviate the current crisis and build  towards a more positive future. Please help us do this.

Edinburgh Community Health Forum (ECHF) has called for an immediate halt to the funding cuts announced by IJB.

ECHF’s Strategic Development Manager, Stephanie-Anne Harris, said: “This drastic cut threatens the very fabric of our community support systems and undermines our collective commitment to health and wellbeing in Edinburgh.

“This disinvestment will lead to the closure of numerous charities and an increased reliance on statutory services, including the NHS and Council.

“Furthermore, it contradicts the Scottish Government’s and Public Health Scotland’s advocacy for prevention and early intervention strategies.

“Evidence overwhelmingly supports that investing in prevention is one of the most cost-effective methods to improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities.

“This short-term approach to achieving savings is fundamentally misguided.”

Historically, core funding for the Third Sector was managed by the Council before being transferred to the IJB.

The current proposed cuts pose a severe threat to organisations that provide essential services to some of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable residents.

Catriona Windle, Chair of ECHF and CEO of Health All Round, a charity dedicated to supporting residents in Gorgie Dalry, Saughton, Stenhouse, and surrounding areas, added: “We call for an immediate halt to cuts scheduled for 2025 and urge the IJB to engage in meaningful discussions with the sector about sustainable funding solutions.

“While we recognise the need for budgetary considerations, we cannot afford to compromise on the vital support that Third Sector organisations provide. We propose delaying cuts until September 2025 to allow for a proper conversation about the future.

“The IJB must recognise that resourcing for the Third Sector is not non-essential; it is crucial for the wellbeing of our communities.

“We implore Council leaders and the IJB to consider resuming full responsibility for funding these vital services or to engage the Third Sector in developing a strategic funding model that ensures ongoing investment in our collective health.”

EVOC, the voice of Edinburgh’s voluntary sector, said: “We are devastated to see the depth of the cuts proposed to the Third Sector in the EIJB Meeting Papers: https://bit.ly/4eZsPXL

“Our sector has an essential role to play in delivering key health and social care services for some of the most vulnerable people in Edinburgh and contributes to the four priorities of the @EdinburghHSCP ‘More Good Days Strategy’.

“Our Board and staff are meeting key colleagues and partners to move quickly on a strategic response and will share more details in the coming days.”

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) are deeply concerned by significant third sector funding cuts that have been proposed this link will take you away from The Alliance website by the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB). As part of savings to close a budget gap, two options are proposed that relate to their health inequality grants programme.

The first option would close the existing programme early, giving grant recipients only three months’ notice and saving £700,000 in this financial year. This would be extremely disruptive for both organisations and people accessing their programmes. Third sector organisations are reasonably entitled to expect to receive funding for the entire grant period. We are especially concerned that this could lead to sudden job losses and financial hardship for affected third sector workers.

The second option would be to end the grants programme entirely in future years, and develop an alternative approach, saving £4.5mn in direct costs next year and beyond. Whilst this would mean existing grants would continue for the remainder of this financial year, it would result in significant uncertainty for the future of some organisations and programmes and for the people who ultimately benefit from these supports and services.

These proposals come even though funded programmes report incredibly high satisfaction rates (91%) and – as the most recent EIJB evaluation notes this link will take you away from The Alliance website – they “have been of benefit to the city.”

Nevertheless, it is claimed that only one of the funded services represents “value for money”. Our understanding is that this assessment has been made via an additional, retrospective EIJB evaluation, and it is unclear if organisations were given adequate time and direction to monitor and evidence the value of their programmes.

The published impact assessments for these proposals this link will take you away from The Alliance website acknowledge the significant number of potential negative impacts that could arise. These include general reduction in service provision and the loss of jobs, increased pressure on unpaid carers, difficulty finding targeted support for specific conditions, and particular impacts in more deprived areas of the city.

In many cases the impact assessment refers to the availability of statutory services as an alternative, for example in relation to maternal mental health. However, the extreme pressures on statutory services, especially mental health services, are well documented.

Third sector services are in many cases supporting people who have fallen through the gaps in or been unable to access statutory services. The withdrawal of grant funding for third sector services will therefore leave those people with no support at all.

Responding to the proposals, the ALLIANCE Chief Officer of Development, Sara Redmond, said: “Third sector organisations provide a range of invaluable services that help to reduce health inequalities and support a preventative approach to health and wellbeing. We are therefore extremely concerned by the proposals from Edinburgh IJB that could see their entire health inequalities grant programme close.

“The EIJB’s own impact assessment acknowledges that these proposals will negatively impact the health and wellbeing of people in Edinburgh, especially in areas already experiencing higher levels of health and socio-economic inequality. In addition to the risk of job losses, these proposals also risk seriously damaging the relationship between the third sector and statutory sector funders, especially as there has been no public consultation in advance.

“Third sector organisations must be able to trust when bidding for contracts or grants that funding will be provided for the entire contracted period. They must also be consulted as equal partners to find a way forward when circumstances change, and for the responsibility to be shared for evaluating the impact of what are complex social policy agendas.

“We urge the EIJB to reject these proposals and develop a fairer way forward that will ensure people receive the support they need and that the third sector can continue its invaluable work to mitigate and prevent health inequalities.”

Work has urgently been going on behind the scenes since the EIJB papers were released and a number of meetings have taken place with more to follow in the run-up to Friday’s crucial board meeting.

Deputations are being arranged, community support is being harnessed across the city and politicians are being lobbied – and opposition to the draconian proposals has gained political support.

SNP Councillor Vicky Nicholson is a member of the EIJB board and she announced last night that the SNP will oppose the report recommendations:

Labour’s Cammy Day said in a statement on Twitter yesterday: ‘After over a decade of @theSNP cuts& under funding Edinburghs health &social care, proposals to cut the third/voluntary sector are here.

“Edinburgh Labour will propose a way forward to engage the sector, work with them & city partners and stop the in year cuts wherever we can.’

Edinburgh Integration Joint Board meets on Friday 1st November at 10am in the Dean of Guilds Room at the City Chambers.

You can read the full details of the recommendations here:

https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s76315/7.2%20Edinburgh%20Integration%20Joint%20Board%20Grants%20Programme%20and%20Public%20Social%20Partnership.pdf