Committee publication · Correspondence · 25 February 2026
Correspondence with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government relating to the Local Regeneration Fund, dated 6 and 17 February 2026
Summary
Correspondence between the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Chair and the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and Housing, Communities & Local Government concerning the Local Growth Fund's impact on the voluntary and community sector. The Chair raises concerns about a 70-30 capital-revenue funding split, redundancies affecting charities, and the timing of December communications. The Government defends the settlement as part of a broader funding strategy and outlines mitigations including £11m additional flexibility and extended UKSPF expenditure deadlines.
Key findings
- The Chair reports that charities face devastating cuts: Mencap losing support for 50+ disabled people, Action Mental Health losing 1,600 clients, and Belfast Works facing 75 redundancies from its 100-strong staff
- Government emphasizes total Northern Ireland Executive settlement of £19.3bn plus £370m Budget allocation provides means for Executive to fund voluntary sector if it wishes, alongside £730m PEACEPLUS investment
- Government implemented mitigations including £11m additional flexibility through Pride in Place Programme reallocation and extended UKSPF expenditure deadline from 31 March to 30 September 2026
- Chair criticizes the timing of funding cuts notification on 19 December, leaving organizations to make redundancy decisions over Christmas with minimal preparation time
- Government confirms meetings with sector representatives on 4 February and states officials worked at pace following July 2025 Spending Review announcement to finalize business planning
Government position
The Government partially accepts the concerns but rejects reversing the capital-revenue split, stating it was set at July 2025 Spending Review and reflects wider policy. It maintains that Northern Ireland's £136m local growth funding over three years represents a significant settlement in context of inherited fiscal constraints. The Government notes it has provided mitigations unavailable to Scotland and Wales, and that the Executive has means to provide additional resource funding if it wishes. It defends the December notification timing as necessary to provide certainty for April 2026 implementation, and states intensive official engagement occurred throughout autumn 2025.
Tone
AdversarialTopics
Key actors
Tonia Antoniazzi MP, Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Rt Hon Steve Reed MP, Belfast Works, Mencap, Action Mental Health, Womens Tec, YouthStart consortium
Notable line
“A building will not help someone get a job.”
Key Quotes
“The sector once more underlined that a 70-30 capital-revenue split is not House of Commons Palace of Westminster Westminster SW1A 0AA northircom@parliament.uk +44 (0)20 7219 3672 Social: @CommonsNIAC appropriate for Northern Ireland.”
“These organisations were put in the unenviable position of cutting programmes and having to make decisions about redundancies over the Christmas period. They were left to feel that the Government does not care.”
“The Local Growth Fund represents a significant change in the UK's investment strategy, supporting each nation and region to deliver long-term infrastructure for sustained economic growth.”
“In recognition that we are moving to a new funding model with a different capital /resource model, the Government has put a number of mitigations in place, including additional flexibilities that have not been made available in Scotland and Wales.”
“… these young people were despondent about their future career opportunities in the sector, as they felt the youth-work industry would not exist in 5 years' time .”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗