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Newry and Armagh MLA Liz Kimmins has welcomed news from the Department of Education today that cuts to youth services and early years will not now go ahead.
Ms Kimmins said “News that cuts to youth services and other important projects like SureStart and the Pathway Fund will not go ahead is a huge relief today for families and communities.
“These projects are a lifeline to many and crucial to children’s development in the early stages of life, particularly young people in disadvantaged areas and it’s absolutely paramount that they are protected.
“Following meetings and correspondence with various local groups including the Bosco and Magnet centre in Newry, St. Oliver Plunkett’s youth club and Funtime after school club in South Armagh we lobbied the Department and EA to strongly oppose these cruel cuts.
“Today’s announcement is a welcome step, but we now need to see an end to cruel and heartless cuts to other services."
Earlier today the Department of Education announced that it is not proceeding with proposed cuts to Youth Services and a range of Early Years programmes including the Pathway Fund, Sure Start, Bright Start and Toybox. The Department is also not proceeding with the full scale of proposed cuts to Extended Schools.
The Education budget for 2023/24 has been cut by £66.4million (2.5%) compared to last year, despite rising costs and increasing demands for services, resulting in an estimated funding gap of around £382million.
Faced with this extremely challenging financial position, the Department has already taken significant decisions to reduce expenditure by £172million. These included the cessation of the Engage, Healthy Happy Minds and School Holiday Food Grant schemes from the end of March 2023 and reductions to the Education Authority’s Aggregated Schools Budget and Block Grant.
Announcing he was not going to proceed with the cuts Education Permanent Secretary Dr Mark Browne said he believes that this decision should be taken by a Minister, considering the scale and cumulative impact of the proposed cuts
“The Department’s vision for all children is that they will be happy, learning and succeeding. Delivering on this is particularly challenging in the current budgetary context, especially in terms of addressing the needs of our most disadvantaged children and young people. We know that early intervention, especially for our most vulnerable, is critical for development, improving learning outcomes and supporting longer term societal benefits.
“Accordingly, having carefully considered all of the principles in the Secretary of State’s decision making guidance, I am not cutting funding to Youth services and a range of Early Years programmes including the Pathway Fund, Sure Start, Bright Start and Toybox. In addition I am not proceeding with the full scale of proposed cuts to Extended Schools.
"I am of the view that such a decision should be taken by a Minister, not a Permanent Secretary."
