Mencap NI has placed over 50 members of staff on protective notice saying that it can no longer deliver its current level of service due to the loss of ESF Funding.
The charity that supports people with learning disabilities says that it has been forced to make the decision to place staff on notice following months of uncertainty regarding European Social Funding which is due to end on March 31, 2023 and replaced with the UK government’s new UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
It says that this new funding falls significantly short of the ESF funding pot by at least 50%.
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The cuts are going to effect the employment services provided by Mencap and the Children's Centre and its services will not be impacted.
Mencap has said the announcement "points to a worrying wider picture of service cuts being made to social care services for people with a learning disability across the country, and reduced opportunities for people to exercise their rights to find, access and stay in work."
It is understood that the end of ESF funding could lead to the loss of service for 17,000 people and will affect 1,700 employees who support them across multiple organisations.
Speaking about the protective notice announcement Grainne Close, Mencap NI Director said: “We have had to make the difficult decision to place our staff on protective notice as we approach the end of ESF funding on 31st March. Unfortunately, with no guarantee of replacement funding and the knowledge that any replacement funding will be at least 50% less than before, it is no longer sustainable for the organisation to deliver services at this level beyond the end of March 2023.
“The Mencap NI Executive team have looked at all options and tried to find alternative solutions however with the current situation and lack of clarity from government departments this has proved exceedingly difficult. The ending of these vital services will have a direct impact on people with a learning disability into employment and will also have a direct impact on their social and emotional wellbeing. With no local government in place, vital support organisations are being left in a precarious position, and are being forced to remove access to services which enrich the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our society
“We need local government officials to do the right thing by providing resource and support to allow these services to continue.
“Our colleagues in Mencap NI, who work in communities across Northern Ireland are highly skilled and dedicated, having built up many years of expertise in supporting people with a learning disability to access training opportunities and jobs. They are doing all they can to ensure continuity of services, whilst also trying to deal with their own personal circumstances in this difficult situation”.
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