Plans to cut £4.5m from Edinburgh charities have been rejected amid opposition

Edinburgh’s charities will not immediately see their funding cut, but they still face the prospect of losing millions in the long term.

Dozens of charities in the city are receiving support from the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, which oversees the capital’s health and social services but is currently facing its own financial crisis.

The health agency voted Friday on plans to eliminate funding for 64 organizations, which provide services ranging from mental health support to promoting healthy eating.

Protesters gathered outside the city chambers ahead of the meeting. Chants of “austerity kills” could be heard from the committee room, as attendees filled the gallery and walked into another room where the proceedings were shown on a television.

There was almost unanimous agreement that a proposal to immediately end this year’s current funding, which would have saved £750,000 but given charities just 90 days to fund alternative funding, was not was allowed to go.

However, the board was divided over whether it would accept the recommendation to stop offering a grant program from March to save a further £4.5 million.

Members voted 6-4 to reject both proposals and instead agreed to “hold discussions” with NHS Lothian council, which jointly funds the funding body, to “consider alternative proposals for the future on the long term of third sector financing”.

They were urged to ensure that the extra money for Scotland announced in the UK Government’s budget was used to address funding shortfalls.

Third sector leaders said the cuts would put 150 jobs and essential services accessed by tens of thousands of vulnerable residents at risk.

Councilor Vicky Nicolson said she had been warned by email last week by ‘hundreds’ of local GPs about the huge extra pressure the cuts would put on doctors, carers and nurses.

But service director Andrew Hall said a “forensic analysis” of every aspect of operations showed the report’s proposals were the “best option” because without a “significant injection of additional funding” the EIJB would not be able to to meet its legal obligations. caring for the sickest.

This was met with repeated claims that the plans would not save the Health and Social Care Partnership anything in the long term, as those currently accessing the services of the 64 charities would eventually flock to GPs and A and E.

Rachel Green, director of the Restalrig-based Ripple Project, which runs lunch clubs and day services for the over-65s, including those with dementia and learning disabilities, said officials were “overestimating the benefits and downplaying the risks” of the cuts.

She said charities had been “notified” that there would be an extension of the grant program in 2025-2026 and had “no reason to believe this would not happen”. However, Mr Hall disputed this.

Ms Green added that if the cuts go ahead, she would have to refer 87 people “directly” to social care services for care packages.

Catriona Windell, from the Edinburgh Community Health Forum and Health All Round, was shocked that no consultation had taken place with affected organizations prior to the meeting. She added: “I don’t think we have ever been treated with such disrespect.

“I think we can save a lot of money if we put our heads together.”

Representatives of other projects that have been put at risk, including healthy cooking classes, citizen counseling services and homeless support services, said the cuts would put lives at risk and “destroy what has taken years to build – and would take years to rebuild.” to build”.

At his last meeting as EIJB chief officer, Pat Togher highlighted that the NHS-council partnership was set up in 2016 with a “structural deficit” of £32 million and that this was now “exacerbating all our financial problems”.

There have been a total of £50 million in cuts to council services over the past two years, with a looming deficit of £26 million in the current year and a further £50 million in the next financial year.

He said this meant shifting focus to “core activities and core legal responsibilities” as the requirement to fulfill legal duties was “much more important than anything else”.

He said: “This is the worst it has ever been and we expect another £50 million next year. It is completely unsustainable.”

He added: “We are concerned as IJB, as a health and social care partnership. . . There is a risk that we retreat to the core of statutory services.

“What came across loud and clear from the deputies this morning is that this will require a collective effort in the future.

“We must also recognize that there is a requirement for cooperation in the future.”

Mr Togher said the decision not to accept the recommendations would result in a “refocus on where we get all the savings from the health and social care partnership from”, and urged the board to carefully assess the impact on the wider workforce, which would face further cuts. .

Katharina Kasper, chair of the joint board, said after the meeting: “The EIJB has listened to voices across Edinburgh and voted not to proceed with cuts to third sector grants at this time.

“We also agree that the long-term underfunding of the EIJB cannot continue.

“We are committed to working with third sector partners and our partners at the City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian to find a way forward that supports good causes in the city.

“The EIJB budget deficit, inherited from its partners in 2016, remains, with savings of £60 million this year and £50 million next year. The EIJB has a legal duty to protect core services such as care homes and drug death prevention services. If a solution cannot be found, we will have to come up with a recovery plan to realize these savings.”