Proposal to cut 2024’s funding for Edinburgh charities rejected but next year’s remains at risk
Melanie May | 5 November 2024 | News
An Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) proposal that would have ended funding for 64 third sector organisations across Edinburgh this year was rejected at a meeting last week. However, a further attempt to save £4.5million next year has been sent back for further consideration.
The EIJB says it faces a significant financial shortfall this year, and an even bigger one of £50mn next year. As such it proposed cutting funding worth £700,000 in the current year and £4.5 million next year, impacting 64 organisations across the city working in elder care, mental health, homelessness, and other areas. In a meeting at Edinburgh’s City Chambers last Friday, councillors voted down the proposal to cut the current year’s funding but sent the proposal for next year back for further consideration.
The proposal
A paper on the matter states that since its inception, the EIJB has operated with a large financial deficit – £32mn in 2015, and in most years has relied on partner organisations providing additional money to meet its spending commitments each year.
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However, it adds:
“A deterioration in the macro-economic climate has reduced the capacity of the partner organisations to continue providing this level of support. Despite achievement of around £50M in savings in the last two years (the overwhelming majority of which has occurred within EHSCP), there remains a significant financial deficit. Without either a substantial increase in income or reduction in expenditure, the EIJB will be unable to meet its fundamental responsibilities which will cause the partners to breach their statutory obligations and deliver core services.”
The paper proposed that the money currently invested in the grants programme would be ‘better spent on other priorities’, as well as a ‘new working relationship with third sector providers based on improved partnership working and longer-term sustainability’.
Recommendations in the paper included bringing forward the scheduled end date of the existing grants programme by two months with a 90-day notice of cancellation to all grant recipients, and not to provide an EIJB grants programme in 25/26.
Sector urges a pause to the proposal & open dialogue
Organisations across Edinburgh have protested against the proposed cuts, and a petition with almost 900 signatures was submitted prior to the meeting, along with an open letter to the EIJB and CIC. In it, the signatories express their deep concern at the proposal and state:
“We believe that cancelling these contracts and clawing back £700,000 immediately, without thorough assessment or engagement with the impacted organisations, risks irreparable harm. Ending the grant in its entirety will destabilise the infrastructure of support and services that communities across Edinburgh rely upon. It risks forcing integral local operations to close their doors, critically jeopardising the wellbeing of the tens of thousands who rely on these services every day and putting over 100 Edinburgh based jobs at risk, pushing those who provide support services towards the vulnerable position of needing them.”
The letter also says that it is “deeply concerning” that the proposal signals that there is “somehow “enough” care” for all those who need it across Edinburgh, and that “The long-term implications of such an abrupt withdrawal of support should be deeply troubling to all citizens”.
The letter called for the EIJB to pause the proposal and engage in an open dialogue with the third sector, saying: “A collaborative approach could yield solutions that preserve essential services while addressing budgetary concerns. Working together, we can find a way to safeguard these services, ensuring they continue to support the residents who need them most.”
However, in a story on Edinburgh Live, EIJB service director Andrew Hall is quoted as saying that a ‘forensic analysis of every aspect of operations found the suggested proposals were the “best option”’ because without significant additional funding, it would not even manage to meet its statutory obligations to provide care for the sickest people.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.