Plans to cut funding in Edinburgh next year will result in “inevitable closures” and redundancies, charities have warned.
This comes after the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board, which directs the city’s health and social care partnership, shelved its plans for in-year cuts to its £4.5m third sector grant programme, but decided to continue with cuts next year.
The initial plans would have brought forward the grant programme’s end date by two months, from March to January, which would have given the 64 charities benefitting from the funding just 90 days’ notice of cancellation.
The EIJB announced yesterday that funding would be extended until June next year, with all grants ceasing after this date.
A spokesperson for the EIJB said: “The Edinburgh Integration Joint Board has agreed to extend the third sector grants programme by three months to allow grant recipients more time to adapt.”
Grantees have said that while the delay was welcome, the forecast cuts would still leave many voluntary organisations at risk, with one already reporting that it will need to make five staff members redundant.
Murrayfield Dementia Project, which receives £50,814 annually from the EIJB to aid its work in providing lunch clubs and day services for people who are living with early-stage dementia, said the funding cut would force it to remove this service from 20 members who attend weekly.
It added that the cuts would result in five redundancies and the termination of eight voluntary opportunities.
Jenny Rowe, project coordinator at Murrayfield Dementia Project, said: “The EIJB reprieve has only prolonged the inevitable. As a small, community organisation, we need to know whether future funding will be made available, and if not, will be forced to close.
“Without the support offered by third sector organisations, we will undoubtedly see an increased pressure on Scotland’s wider health and social care services, which are already at breaking point.”
Stephanie-Anne Harris, manager of the membership organisation Edinburgh Health Community Forum, said that while the extension of the EIJB grant to June was welcome, alternative funding must be found to prevent “devastating consequences” for Edinburgh’s most vulnerable citizens.
She said: “Without the necessary funding, closures are inevitable. These community-led charities cannot afford to exist without long-term public funding, and the threat of this soon being removed is hanging over their heads, preventing future planning.”
Harris said that many of the EHCF’s members expect to close next year due to the funding cuts, adding: “An alternative must be found to cover their core costs.
“We urge Edinburgh City Council to step up, provide clarity, and commit to funding that ensures these vital organisations can continue their essential work.”
The EIJB’s spokesperson said: “The EIJB’s budget deficit, which was inherited in 2016, remains, with savings of £51m required next year. The EIJB has a legal duty to protect core services such as care homes and drug-death prevention services.”
The spokesperson added that the EIJB was working with voluntary organisations to “co-produce a commissioning model for the future that is aligned to our new strategic plan and within the EIJB’s financial envelope”.