Department for Communities confirms it is proposing to reduce Covid-19 discretionary support grant budget requirement by £2m in 2020/2021

Department officials advise that reduction in funding is justified as a result of lower than forecast uptake, despite efforts to raise awareness and increase generosity of grants

The Department for Communities in Northern Ireland has confirmed it is proposing to reduce its Covid-19 discretionary support grant budget requirement by £2m in 2020/2021.

In a meeting of the Communities Committee of Northern Ireland on 17 December 2020, MLAs were briefed by officials from the Department for Communities about the Department’s revised budget requirements from the Department of Finance for the 2020/2021 financial year.

Confirming that the Department had made no requests to increase its budget requirements for the current year, Department officials went on to advise the Committee that -

‘The department does propose to reduce requirements to surrender to the Department of Finance. These include 11.4 million of ring fenced resources … Further details on these requirements are provided in our briefing pack …. the more material of which include in resources … £2 million in Covid-19 discretionary support grants.

Despite activity to increase uptake of Covid-19 discretionary support grants, including increasing awareness, increasing award amounts and greater flexibility in the award period, uptake remains slow.’

Responding to the briefing, Chair of the Committee Paula Bradly said it was 'quite stark and shocking’ that there was a lack of Departmental bids for further funding this year. In addition, Ms Brady highlighted how unusual it was to see a surrender of budget allocations for discretionary support grants, particularly during the Covid-19 crisis -

‘I just don't understand how that is the case. We know that very very many people have applied for universal credit for the first time … I would have expected actually that we'd have come back for more money for discretionary support and not surrendering that.’

Department officials responded to Ms Brady by reiterating that, despite their efforts to increase awareness and the generosity of the Covid-19 elements of the scheme, uptake still remained lower than forecast for the year and, as a result, this justified the decision to surrender the £2 million underspend.

NB - the discretionary assistance grant scheme in Northern Ireland was extended in  March 2020 to help those specifically impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, including to provide support to those who need to self-isolate - to provide support similar to that provided by the self-isolation payment schemes operating in England, Scotland and Wales - and to enable more than one grant award per year.

The Communities Committee meeting: 17 December 2020 - that includes details of the Department's budget decisions (starting 2 hours 34 minutes into the meeting) - is available from niassembly.tv