NICVA PRESS RELEASE 30 March 2026

Voluntary and community sector organisations across Northern Ireland are warning of an imminent crisis, as a 64% cut to vital community-based services under the new Local Growth Fund (LGF) is set to take effect within 48 hours.
Sector leaders are urging political representatives to act now - before it is too late.

This morning impacted organisations gathered at Stormont to publicly call on the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to act urgently to prevent this crisis.

From 1 April 2026, funding to tackle economic inactivity will fall by a staggering £15.8 million per year, a reduction sector leaders describe as “completely unworkable.”
They warn the cuts will trigger hundreds of redundancies and remove essential support for thousands of vulnerable people across Northern Ireland.

“Without immediate political intervention, hundreds of skilled staff will be lost on 1 April, and the thousands of vulnerable people they support will have nowhere to turn,” Celine McStravick, CEO, NICVA said.

The UK Government’s decision to allocate the majority (70%) of LGF funding to capital projects, rather than existing employment, skills and inclusion services, has created a severe funding cliff edge. Organisations are clear this gap cannot be absorbed, and without urgent intervention, services will be dismantled overnight.

NICVA’s Economic Inactivity Coalition has repeatedly raised concerns with Westminster and Stormont. Despite widespread political recognition of the importance of these services - and acknowledgement of the severe consequences of the cuts - the funding gap remains unresolved less than 48 hours before they take effect.

“This crisis stems from a short-sighted funding decision that can still be reversed - but only if the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive choose to act immediately,” said Celine McStravick.

Services are now on the brink, facing the very real prospect of collapse. If no action is taken before 1 April, the Coalition warns that:

• Over 11,000 people per year will lose access to vital skills, employability and inclusion support
• Hundreds of skilled frontline staff will be made redundant
• Trusted community infrastructure built over decades will collapse
• There will be major knock-on pressure on already stretched public services

Those most affected include people with learning difficulties, those with disabilities or long-term health conditions, young people struggling in education, people experiencing mental ill health, and women facing persistent barriers to employment. The impact will be felt in every constituency across Northern Ireland.

“This is not about protecting organisations. It is about protecting people - their dignity, their inclusion, and their right to opportunity and hope. These cuts will simply shift costs onto already overstretched public services, onto families, and onto communities, ” Celine said.
While the UK Government’s funding model has created this crisis, sector leaders stress that the Northern Ireland Executive has both the authority and the responsibility to act now.

The Coalition is calling on the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to use all available powers to secure an emergency bridging solution to keep services running beyond 1 April.

They are clear this does not remove Westminster’s responsibility to fix the unworkable LGF model, but that Executive intervention is now essential to prevent immediate collapse.

“There is still time to act,” Celine added.