Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether his Department is taking steps to help minimise the number of staff in voluntary organisations who have been given a protective notice due to the ceasing of funding from Northern Ireland Departments at the end of the 2022-23 financial year.

As the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland set out in his statement to Parliament on 24 November 2022, he is disappointed to have inherited a budget with a funding gap of some £660 million. The Secretary of State did not want to be in the position of having to set the Budget, but he has done so to protect Northern Ireland’s finances and maintain delivery of public services. The Budget is the best outcome deliverable at this late stage of the financial year and it means that difficult decisions have to be made in very difficult circumstances.

I want to acknowledge the excellent work of voluntary organisations and the important services that they provide for communities in Northern Ireland. However, the decisions regarding the specific funding allocations for these organisations are a matter for the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland.

We remain firmly convinced that a restored devolved, power-sharing government, in line with the vision of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, should take the decisions on the issues that matter most to the people of Northern Ireland, including on funding for voluntary organisations.