Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help address changes to the level of funding for community and voluntary sector organisations in Northern Ireland during the transition from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to the Local Growth Fund.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is working in close partnership with the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Executive designing an Investment Plan for delivery of the new Local Growth Fund. The Local Growth Fund represents a significant step change in UK investment strategy, supporting each nation and region to deliver long-term infrastructure for sustained economic growth.

The devolved governments, including the Northern Ireland Executive have also received substantial budget increases through the Barnett formula as a result of greater funding for English local authorities. This provides the devolved governments with additional flexibility enabling them to target resource to their priorities.

We appreciate the urgency of providing certainty about Local Growth Fund delivery and acknowledge the pressures facing the voluntary and community sector. The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has therefore agreed with the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Executive to commission economic inactivity delivery for 2026-27, and engagement with project deliverers is already underway. In addition, MHCLG are also providing additional flexibility to projects to use any UK Shared Prosperity Fund budget that remains unspent at the end of March 2026, for activities up to September 2026.

The Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Executive are also planning engagement from early 2026 to collaborate with the sector to design economic inactivity support from 2027 onwards.